Three Kings
by Anukis-san
Summary: The King is holding a meeting with his under-boss and consigliere when a teenager interrupts them. Not risking his operation, what does the King decide will be the fate for this young boy? Atemu Yami /Yugi , Seto/Jou  more later? . See inside for more.
1. Chapter 1

**HI! **Wow, it's been a while, huh?

So yeah, this idea came into my head after reading about fifty thousand different Yami/Yugi fics and attempting to create an OC/Yami fic (which tanked) and I am really starting to let the gears turn for this. I figured I'd post the first chapter (can't hurt right?) and see what people's reactions are. I'll probably post the whole thing (that is if I find inspiration to finish the whole thing). But writing this so far is just flowing, I haven't had an idea move like this for a while so I'm really excited to let you guys read!

Pairings: Atemu(Yami)/Yugi, Seto/Jou (more to be determined?)

**Rated M** for further chapters (violence, gang related topics, possibly sexual themes, language)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! This fanfiction is my idea, but I humbly give the idea to anyone who wishes to use it for personal use ;)

Again, please let me know what you think and more importantly: **Enjoy!**

X X X X X X X X X X X X

_Three Kings - Chapter One_

A man with brown hair sat at a large executive desk. His ice blue eyes were locked onto nothing in particular, his thoughts wandering as his hands folded in front of him. Glancing up at the clock, he let his eyes relax. Thinking about the daily hustle he had gone through was tough, just seeing one more figure might make his head burst, but he had to have everything in order for tonight. It was bad enough to be a CEO of Kaiba Corporation, now he had to meet with the King, his cousin, and his boss, along with the underboss. It had been an hour since he sent out his informant. He glanced back up at the clock… where was that mutt?

As if on cue, a knock came from the door.

"Come in." The brunette said.

The door clicked open gently and another man with blonde hair and brown eyes walked through.

"Hey Seto…" He greeted walking towards the desk.

The brunette, Seto, grumbled, "How many times have I told you not to be so informal with me around here?"

"What's the big deal, like anyone's gonna be 'round… it's only 6 anyway… thought you might wanna know somethin' but if you're just gonna be a big jerk ta' me I might as well leave." Said the blonde moving back towards the door. **1** (A/N: See corresponding notes at the end)

The brunette stood up and his hand flashed out with lightening speed, catching the blonde's wrist before yanking him backwards. The two locked opposing gazes before Seto sighed in defeat.

"Just let me know what's going on, Jou."

"Fine." Smiled the blonde, Jou, in victory, "Well, 'ta King is gonna be in town tonight. He wants to meet wit' ya. 1 am sharp he says. Are ya gonna go, Seto?"

Seto Kaiba mumbled something, "Like I have a choice. We need to make this deal so he'll fix my problem and get out of this city as soon as possible."

Jounouchi (Jou) Katsuya smirked, "Yeah right, a handsome guy like 'ta King don't come around very often. Ya can't expect me 'ta believe a horn-ball like you ain't lookin' forward ta seeing him for an hour?"

Seto growled sending shivers down Jou's back as the brunette pulled the blonde close, "One, he's my cousin, perv. Second, you know there's only ever been you, mutt."

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Yugi Motou sighed as he carried a box out into the shop. Working at the game shop was fun and all, but his grandpa could kind of be a Nazi. Just thinking that made Yugi sigh again… if his grandpa had heard that he would make a comment about having fought real Nazi's and how he was nothing like those "belligerent drones". But Yugi would still beg to differ…

"Yugi! Once you're done unloading that box, don't forget to count the register one more time and lock the front door. You wouldn't happen to need help would you? Of course not. Oh, there's also one more box back here you should get out tonight. Can you start dinner as soon as you're done? Or better yet at least start it by 7. Is the closed sign flipped yet?" His grandpa called from the back of the shop. **2**

Yugi bit back a nasty retort and sighed, "Yes, ojii-san." **3**

"Good, good…"

Yugi rubbed his temples. Why didn't he just put that man in a retirement home already? It wasn't that he hated his grandpa, truthfully he loved his grandpa very much… just… sometimes he couldn't stand doing all the work around the shop. He begged his grandpa to at least hire a new employee for help, especially with the elder Motou's health starting to decline, but he had refused. Said that Yugi was perfectly capable of handling the shop on his own and that his health was just as good as it was 40 years ago! Ha! What a joke. It wasn't as good as it was 40 days ago, let alone 40 years...

The boy started carefully unpacking the contents of the box he had brought out and putting things into the display case. Trying to think about something other than the massive amount of homework he had to do tonight, Yugi looked out the glass windows to the street and started to daydream. The girl he liked at school, Anzu, actually seemed interested in the game shop and he had invited her to stop by sometime. Of course, just as _friends_. He hated just being friends but he was lucky to have one he supposed. Getting beat up at school sucked. Not being able to defend him self sucked.

Yugi had to physically stop himself from just dropping his head through the glass display glass in frustration. He was 17, damn it. He wanted a girl friend or at least… at least the potential to get a girl friend, but he felt like at this rate, things weren't ever going to go well for him.

'_At least this is my senior year_.' Yugi thought, '_I can be whoever I want to be in college, no body has to know I was ruthlessly beaten up and a loser at my old school_.'

Or so he had hoped.

With another inward groan, he went back to stocking the display case when his cell phone went off on the counter next to him.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Atemu Kaji **4 **sat in the back of a black Mercedes-Benz S600 Sedan with his shades still on despite the creeping darkness coming around outside. He rested his head against the leather interior, resting his crimson eyes, which were the main reason he was so successful at striking fear into his enemies hearts. His spiked blonde, and black and red hair went off in every direction, looking as wild as usual. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to his meeting with the young CEO of Kaiba Corporation, but he knew he had to. Meeting with Seto, along with the underboss, had to happen in order to keep the whole operation afloat. His work wasn't exactly easy to do.

Most people knew him as a feared mafia boss, the King. He knew at any minute a rival gang could be out there looking for him, wanting him dead. Atemu had worked in bid rigging, vote buying, and handled several loan sharks, as a result, he'd grown incredibly powerful over the years. Money was never an issue, but he had the constant nagging about the loyalty being over-thrown by greed in his men.

'_So what?_' He thought flippantly and let his mind drop the thought immediately. '_Seto is at least loyal. Even if it is only out of our blood relation_.'

Looking back out the window, Atemu grumbled. It had been quite a while since he had gone to Domino City. Hopefully the sleepy town would live up to its reputation and keep any incidences out of his hair for the evening. Just a normal meeting with his consigliere and underboss, and he'd be done in this town for a while.

One could only hope at least.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Yugi reached for his buzzing phone, looking at the number on the front he recognized it immediately and practically ripped the phone open.

"H-Hello?" He stuttered.

"Hey Yugi!" Answered a feminine voice from the other end.

"Oh hey, Anzu!" Yugi said like he didn't know it was her calling, "What's up?"

"Well I was just wondering… I know you aren't big on parties or anything but there's supposed to be a really good one going on down on Anchor Street tonight."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I just thought maybe you'd wanna come along, ya know? As friends… I mean. It's find if you don't want to, Ryou was _totally_ against the idea of course but I thought it wouldn't hurt to call you too."

Yugi bit his lip; he really wasn't fond of parties. In his opinion there was too much drinking, too much noise, and too much idiocy.

"Yeah, for sure! Sounds great, Anzu! I'll try and be there." He hoped his enthusiasm didn't sound too faked.

"Awesome! See you there!" The line clicked dead and Yugi sighed setting down his phone.

On one hand, he was totally stoked to get an invite from Anzu, on the other hand… he really didn't want to go to a party with a chance of running into any bullies from school. But, for a chance with Anzu, who knew what Yugi was willing to do. He decided he would go, but couldn't tell his grandpa. The old man would freak if he knew Yugi was going to leave the house that late. And without a car, he'd obviously have to walk all the way there.

"Darn it. Why didn't I ask Anzu for a ride?" Yugi dragged.

"A ride for what?" Came a voice from behind him.

"Ah! Oh! Grandpa! Ha… um… I should have asked her—er… for a ride to school on Monday…?" He said skittishly.

"Oh I see! That's nice. In my day, we didn't have any of those fancy cars that always started the first time at our beck and call and had to walk up hill both ways from and to school, you know. You kids should be darn lucky it's not like it used to be." His grandpa started to ramble on but Yugi tuned him out.

At least he could go to the party without fear of his grandpa waking up during the night to catch him sneaking out.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

12:30 rolled around and Seto carried a plain black brief case out to his BMW 760Li Sedan. Honestly, he wouldn't admit it to a soul, but the thing that sold this car was the blue color it came in. It was a little darker than he usually liked, but something about the shade caught his interest. That, and it was _fast_. Throwing the brief case into the back he sat in the drivers seat and started the engine, waiting for Jou to climb into the passenger's side door. He waited until the blonde had just shut the door and stomped on the gas sending the engine roaring with life towards their destination.

"Ya think I'll just have ta wait with the car again?" Jou teased.

"Probably." Seto said bluntly.

Jou pouted, "Ya know, I do a lot for yous guys—" **5**

"Don't complain to me," Seto cut him off, "I'm his adviser, not the boss, and_ you_ just try telling _him_ that you want to sit in on some boring meeting. We'll probably just be going over numbers as usual. Besides… isn't an uncle of yours a police officer?"

Snorting, Jou answered, "Yeah but I don't ever talk ta the guy!"

"Doesn't matter. You know the rules." Seto said still with the same stoic attitude.

Jou sighed, "I guess. Still don't seem fair."

Seto glanced over at the blonde and took a moment to reach for his hand.

"Look," Seto began, "You don't want to be involved with this sort of thing. Trust me. I know you think that it's all fun and games, and roughing people up, but it's not."

The blonde huffed once more before focusing on something out the window.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Yugi was not happy.

At midnight, he began to sneak out, and as predicted, without a problem, made his way to the party. Anchor Street was pretty easy to find on a Friday night since it was where most kids went to hang out.

However, upon arrival, he found Anzu and while everything started off peaches and cream, it ended up Anzu must have taken one too many shots at the bar and started treating Yugi like a freakin' baby panda and then making out with some guy in a booth. **6**

Yugi was marching back home, and didn't even notice when he started to take the short cut back home… forgetting that it was right through dangerous territory—mafia territory.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Atemu's car pulled into the abandoned warehouse district and parked against one of the looming buildings. Atemu stepped out, removing his glasses for the first time, leaving his crimson eyes fully exposed. It was 20 minutes until midnight. He hoped the others would show early… he hated waiting.

10 minutes until midnight he heard the sound of an approaching car, signaling his two men to have guns at the ready, he instantly gave them the OK when he saw the car. An old 1968 Mustang GT rounded the corner and when the rumbling engine came to a halt, a figured began to step out.

"It's been a while Atemu."

The woman who stepped out from the classic car had a figure that could kill with long blonde hair spilling down to her lower back. Her eyes were a strange violet color with a stare to rival Atemu's. She wore a white corset covered with a black leather jacket, wearing white arm warmers, and had a black leather mini skirt with knee high matching boots. A gun was holstered to the exposed portion of her thigh. **7**

"So it would seem," Atemu replied.

"Any word from Kaiba?" the woman asked.

"Not yet. He said he'd come, so I'm sure he'll show."

The underboss sighed, "Such confidence in your right hand man. It's good to hear."

Atemu cocked an eyebrow, "Having trouble with any Capodecina?" **8**

Her gaze hardened, "You could say that."

As she spoke the blue BMW sounded in the distance, the four stood steady until seeing the car round the same corner as the Mustang had taken and let they relaxed. Seto stepped out and Jou drove the car back a few warehouses so he wasn't interfering.

"Seto." The girl greeted.

"Mai Kujaku," Seto let out a sort of laugh-cough, "Glad to see you're some how still alive."

"Can it chump." Mai defended.

Atemu rolled his eyes, "Alright you two. Down to business."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

THANKS FOR READING! Let me know what you thought (liked it? hated it?) and here are some notes I thought I'd add.

~I'm using wikipedia for my layout of the basic Sicilian mafia

**1** Should I keep Jou talking like this? I think it's appropriate since it's a gangster-themed fanfiction to have him with his American dub Brooklyn accent... but it can get kind of annoying to type xD

**2** I love using Yugi's grandpa as that awkward perverted old character... it's out of love... honestly...

**3** Ojii-san = Grandpa (Japanese)

**4 **Kaji = Fire (Japanese) I thought this was interesting because it's actually more of the word for an "out-of-control" fire... c: I thought it was fitting with Atemu's crimson eyes -swoon-

**5 **xD... "yous guys" ... hahah I love it x3

**6** I didn't _want _to have to make Anzu a b*tch... it just happened T_T sorry, needed something to get Yugi flustered and walking around late at night xD

**7 **This took me the longest to write... to decide and make the under-boss Mai was something I really wasn't sure how readers would take it. But thinking about it, she's kind of got that "ruler" attitude that I think could make her a pretty darn good gangster.

**8 **again, for any terms that you don't quite get, please just google search Sicilian mafia and look at the graph on the wikipedia page ;) I'm trying to keep my research pretty factual, but I'm not making any promises

^ Sorry for all the notes! I promise the later chapters won't have so many ;)

Peace!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! Here's another chapter and without delay I'm going to go right into the story! Please read the notes at the end:

**VIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 2**

**VIVIVIVIV**

Yugi kicked a rock as he walked down a back ally, still sore about the display Anzu had put on at the party. He was sick of being so freakin' attached to her. What did she ever do for him anyway? Yugi sighed and thought it over. It was just a crush really; Anzu was beautiful, nice, and a good friend, but nothing more. The high school student had to come to terms with that. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake out all the negative thoughts running through his brain. All he wanted now was to get home, and go to bed, sound asleep, like he should be in the first place.

Not really paying attention to how far his short cut was going off course, he looked up when he noticed headlights up the street. People? He noticed two cars parked on either side of a group of people. Yugi could make out at least 4, maybe 5 people standing around. Despite his better instinct. He was tired, nothing good had happened at the party, so he shimmied up against a warehouse and started making his way towards the group. He could now clearly see five people in the group, and start to regret getting so close. There was one guy with his back towards Yugi, which had wild spiked black hair with streaks of a color Yugi couldn't quite make out in the dark. Two guys in black suits stood to each side of the spiky haired guy.

The other two were a tall brunette… Yugi could have sworn he'd seen his face before. And a very shapely blonde who had a…

**A GUN.**

Strapped to her thigh he could now see that it was definitely a gun.

What the hell did he get himself into this time?

VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV

Atemu smirked as the two reluctantly ceased their bickering. They weren't the best of friends, but they were the best in the business. Mai and Seto both had a stubborn streak that clashed personally, but worked flawlessly on the job.

"So Mai," Atemu started, "Who's the Capodecina I should speak to?" **1**

Mai sighed and looked away, "It might not be an issue but… Marik has been awfully… out of character lately. It makes me think he's up to something. He and Bakura were whispering like school girls one night and I happened to walk by, they clammed up immediately. Friendly as ever." She added sarcastically, "I don't know what they're up to but it makes me suspicious."

"Hm… And Malik? What's he been up to?" **2**

"Malik's about as crazy as usual. Honestly, Atemu, I don't know why you hired the guy he's—"

"I know. Trust me. If I had family to take his place he wouldn't be in on this anymore. But he's useful. He gets the job done. And as far as family goes, well you both know that's quite limited for me."

Mai nodded and didn't say anything more.

"Seto. What are the figures like?" Atemu asked.

Seto opened a laptop that he had brought with him and turned it towards Atemu to see the graph that was displayed.

"What's this?" Atemu asked pointing to a dip on the charts.

Seto cringed, "A problem. That's for sure."

Atemu's crimson eyes flared up a bit, "What's the date on this."

"One week ago exactly."

The King's fist curled and he bit his lip, "You think it has to do with those three?"

"After hearing what Mai just said? Absolutely."

Atemu's muscles all seemed to coil, like a snake before a strike, he was furious. How dare those thieves try and pull money out of his pocket, out of _everyone's_ pocket. When you steal from Atemu, when you steal from the boss—the King? You steal from everyone… and Atemu wasn't the kind of guy to just sit back and take it.

Seto and Mai watched with baited breath as the King closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking. Finally, he seemed to relax, and opened his eyes, the fire behind them had gone out for now.

"Let's not jump to conclusions."

"I agree," Mai said, "Perhaps it's all coincidental. After all, they've been loyal to you through all these years and to do something this low, to steal from l_a Famiglia,_ they know it would land them in trouble with _more_ than just you."** 3**

Atemu sighed, "You've got a point. Can you trust someone under their command to answer you honestly, Mai?"

Mai nodded, "Of course. One of their associates who has recently come on the team has been working his way up in ranks quickly and should be useful to get to Marik and Bakura. He's Marik's man too, that makes it easier, I think Marik's a bigger pushover than Bakura could ever be."

Atemu agreed and looked back at the laptop Seto was still diligently holding. Glancing through the rest of the number, he noticed nothing more than the slight decline from the two clients Bakura and Marik were in charge of. No doubt they may have hassled the money out of their clients and then kept a little for them selves. Like they didn't already get paid enough… but it would be incredibly obvious. How could they think that Atemu wouldn't see it? Or did they think he was that bad of a boss that he wouldn't even care? The King didn't know which idea pissed him off more.

VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV

Meanwhile, Yugi was frozen to his spot. Hiding himself almost completely in a door frame of the warehouse, he tried to see more of what was going on. Who were these people? He thought about backing away slowly into the little door-way area he was currently standing in, and then he could shimmy back down the side of the warehouse and off into the night… but his legs weren't working properly. Yugi was too afraid that if he started to move, to attempt to sneak away, he'd just end up tripping over his own feet and giving his hiding spot away. So instead he stayed perfectly still and just listened. It couldn't be much longer… hopefully these guys weren't dumb enough to stick around all night. The cops did patrol this area after all…

_Didn't_ they?

Yugi started to panic more. What if the cops didn't come down this way? Or what if these guys paid off the cops to stick their noses else where for the evening? _OR_ what if they _were_ cops and all this panic was for nothing? What if they weren't cops and the cops came and Yugi got in trouble because he was in the same location as these guys?

That was it. He had to move. There were too many risks of staying there that he didn't want to take. So he slowly picked up his left foot and inched it through the air backwards. Slowly, Yugi lowered it back down to the Earth and repeated the same procedure with his right foot.

Slowly up. Slowly down.

The high school student began to shift his weight backwards onto his right foot when he heard the spiky haired one let out a curse word. Yugi's eyes jerked up from their current job of watching where his feet were going and in that moment, Yugi tripped.

VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV

Atemu sighed and then turned to Seto, "Find out where the money is being extracted from and deal with the two who took it out."

Seto nodded, "I'll do my best. If my men can't find it though, how they took it… what are we going to do?"

"What if Bakura is behind this…" Mai chimed in, "Are you just going to kick him out?"

Atemu looked between the two and ran a hand through his hair as he felt his anxiety growing, "I don't know. I don't know. Hell, if we can't find a trace then we can set up new accounts. Maybe it was just those two idiots that work for Bakura..." He growled, "And if Bakura's behind it… FU—"

The rest of his profanity was cut off by a metallic bang that rang out from behind Atemu. The five were instantly on edge. The two goons and Mai had pulled out their guns that were dutifully pointed directly towards where the sound had come from. Atemu put up a hand as a signal to hold it.

There on the ground was a wimpy looking _kid_ with funny hair not but 30 feet from where they had been talking.

"Who the hell are you?" Atemu called out.

The kid was on his back, holding himself up by his elbows, still obviously shaken. He had large lighter colored eyes (Atemu couldn't tell the exact color in the dark) and black spiked hair similar to the King's own style. His eyes were filled with fear; Atemu could tell he was shaking. He was just a kid after all. But what the hell was a kid doing back here.

"Did you not hear me? Tell me who the hell you are before I tell my men to put some holes in you." Atemu threatened. No mercy in his voice.

"M-my name is Higure." Yugi lied quickly.** 4**

"Really… why don't you come over here Higure. Don't try any funny business or you'll be dead in a second."

Yugi gulped, still shaking. He was dead. _Dead_. He knew it. There was no way they would just say, "Oh you were just walking by, we're sure!" He didn't even have anything to drink at the party so he couldn't fake being slightly tipsy to get away with his intrusion. Yugi pushed himself up off the ground and started to walk over to the group, slowly.

The five watched the boy like hawks, making sure he didn't pull anything on them. Like he would even try under the sights of 3 guns. As he approached who he assumed was the leader, he began to notice that the guy's eyes were _red_. Not just any red though, crimson blood red. This only served to cause Yugi to shiver more. Was this guy a demon? No, that's too crazy. But, Yugi had never even heard of red eyes. Maybe they were contacts… that had to be it.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing back here?" Atemu asked.

Yugi cringed at his language, it's not like he expected the guy to be polite about it, he just wasn't quite ready to die. He tried to steady his voice.

"I was wa-walking home." He got out.

"How do I know you don't work for someone who wants me dead."

"W-What? Why would I want you dead? I don't even know who any of you are!" Yugi pleaded, "I was just walking home! I swear!"

Atemu walked over to the boy and in a second, grabbed Yugi by his jacket, yanking him up so that they were face to face.

Atemu stopped, so did the world, for only a second.

In the streetlight he could see the boy's eyes were violet. Not blue, not just a different shade of blue. These eyes were the purest color violet he had ever seen.

The second passed and Atemu growled threateningly, "Look kid. I know I'm one to love playing games. But now isn't the time. Where do you live?"  
Yugi was trying not to cry out, he didn't want even more trouble, "I-I live at the Game Shop in downtown Domino."

Yugi gave his address, not noticing Seto typing it into his laptop.

"You better say your prayers, kid." Seto chimed in, "There's no Higure listed as living at that address."

Yugi gulped as Atemu's eyes slowly closed, then slowly opened. A fire seemed to be burning deep within them. It felt like the fire was burning Yugi where the taller man's hands grabbed his jacket and he started to panic. Yugi grabbed Atemu's hands and started to try and kick and pull himself away.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Atemu warned lowly.

Yugi immediately froze. He totally had forgotten about the guns directed at his head, a hard thing to miss, but even as he stood there, totally stone cold from Atemu's tone, he began to feel the need to vomit. Atemu must have somehow realized this (maybe Yugi had gone pale?) and pushed the kid back right before Yugi left his dinner all over the ground.

Atemu scrunched his nose at the smell, but merely stated: "I don't think he's any sort of agent."

Mai sighed, "What gave that away? The vomit? The cowering? The youth?"

"Just shut up, Mai." Seto said rubbing his forehead, "What do we do with him? He might have heard something. And he's seen you, more importantly me talking to you."

Atemu kept an eye on Yugi as he tried to compose himself after his elimination.

"He's just a kid. But you have a point. He's not that young. He can put two and two together."

"Please just let me go. I don't know any of you. I just want to get home." Yugi muttered weakly.

"Too bad. Franz, put him in the trunk."** 5**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVVIVIVIVI**

One more chapter out of the way! Sorry it's kind of a slow start, I really want to make sure I pick a good story line (I've got a couple in mind). Of course any ideas or questions are welcome! Just let me know in a review! Thank you everyone who watched this story, I hope I don't disappoint! And to Kiki and Littlekuriboh1fan for reviewing!

I also wanted to note that while this is going to be romance, I'm really going to try and do better than I have done in my past stories with the whole, see each other and instantly fall in love thing :P That being said, bear with me!

**1** Capodecina or "head of ten", to put it roughly (chain of command: Atemu, Seto and Mai, Bakura, Malik and Marik) So Atemu is boss, Seto and Mai have equal footing but Seto is like Atemu's adviser and Mai is in charge of the Capodecina (Bakura, Marik and Malik) who all run their own "group of ten". For more detail, google Sicilian Mafia

**2** I'm using Malik as Yami Marik, and Marik as… regular Marik xD

**3** la Famiglia: family, Italian. Mobs are much like family, usually run by one family, in this case, there isn't much tying the group by family (minus Seto and Atemu) but more a bond of honor and trust.

**4** Higure: opposite of daybreak, Japanese. I mean to use this later in the story. I thought about making his fake name Hikari (light), buuuut… you'll see :D

**5** The name Franz is actually making a hint at the Abridged Series by LittleKuriboh. I thought Kaiba's German bodyguards were hilarious and decided to transfer the idea when naming one of Atemu's henchmen ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Notes at the end of the chapter :] k thanks.

Oh, oh, oh… and don't sue me x_x I own nothing but the random ideas in my head.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 3**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi could feel the bounce of the car and every turn they made, it wasn't helping his nausea.

He still remembered seeing the blunt end of the pistol coming down on his head, then feeling a stinging pain on his skull, then seeing black, and then winding up in this stupid cramped trunk. Well, in all honesty it was a large trunk, but being tied up wasn't helping any claustrophobia he had been feeling. His breath smelled from the vomit and his throat stung, his leg was falling asleep… he just wanted to cry.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Atemu felt slight regret as the young boy fell to the ground unconscious, luckily missing the puddle of sick not far off. He couldn't trust him though. He'd already given Atemu a false name: Higure. This boy didn't seem like he could be any sort of spy, but there was no telling. For now, he'd have to take him with him and discuss further options with Seto and Mai.

Riding in the back seat, all Atemu could think of was the boy cramped in the back. He wondered how long he'd been truly listening. What if he didn't even hear anything? What was the point of dragging him all the way out here just to decide his fate? The cars slowed and pulled over to a dark black building, a closed restaurant. The driver and passenger, Franz, got out and went over to the trunk; Atemu let himself out and joined the two men to open the trunk.

The trunk popped open gently and Atemu looked over the boy, awkwardly crumpled against one side of the trunk, still tied, and with his eyes slightly red: crying?

"It's time to move it, kid." Said one of the thugs to Atemu's left.

The two goons lifted Yugi out of the trunk, not much caring if he hit his head on anything on the way up, as they started to drag him away Atemu watched carefully. He couldn't risk showing this kid any sort of compassion… at least for now.

Atemu walked towards the dark locked doors of the restaurant and pulled a set of keys from his jacket pocket. Unlocking the doors, he swung them open wide to allow the two carrying the boy through. As soon as the trio was inside, Atemu shut and locked the doors once again. Seto and Mai should arrive shortly, but they could use their own keys to enter.

When Atemu turned the two had set the boy at a booth and walked to guard the entrances, leaving the boy tied onto a wooden beam not far off. Sighing, Atemu made his way to sit.

"What are you going to do with me?" The boy asked.

"It depends on how well you cooperate. I would suggest first telling me your _real_ name."

Yugi's glance shifted. He already gave them his address, and he was sure looking up a photo ID from his high school wouldn't be hard for them… whoever they were.

"It's Yugi." He said weakly, he was hoping his grandpa wouldn't be hurt, after all, they could find where he lived now.

In a moment, Atemu pulled out his cell phone and had entered something in using the keys. He sat the phone down to his side on the table between the two.

"Now, Yugi, who are you working for?" Atemu asked looking directly into Yugi's eyes.

Yugi's spine felt like it would shiver right out from his back, those _eyes_…

"I don't work for anyone. I don't even know who you are." Yugi tried to stay calm, and honest.

He had thought the fake name was a good idea at first, but now he had no idea who he was messing with. All he wanted to do was get out of here and back to normal life. Obviously honesty wasn't the only thing this guy needed though. Those crimson eyes were still staring through him. Yugi couldn't honestly think the intensity coming from the gaze was staring _at_ him or he might have to look away, and he figured a move like that would make him look like a liar.

Atemu suddenly pushed himself over the table and was hovering close to Yugi's face… uncomfortably close for Yugi, "If you're lying to me, you'd better be ready to face the consequences. I don't take well to liars."

The shorter one gulped. And suddenly he could see all too well what the King was wearing. He hadn't had time to notice before, what with the imminent threat of a gun and possibly death, but now he saw tight leather and a black top were snugly grasping to the taller one's body. Yugi couldn't help but notice the muscle underneath the light material…

The phone Atemu had set on the table let out a small jingle indicating it had received a message. In one swift movement, Atemu grasped the phone and reclined back in the booth. He read over the message.

"Good thing you gave me your real name this time. It looks like your record is pretty clean, kid." Atemu looked back at Yugi, "Lucky break."

The cell phone had a picture of Yugi on it, he caught a glimpse of the rest when the phone was set back down, must have been his whole life written out on that screen…

"So, does this mean I can leave now?" The student asked.

The crimson-eyed Don let out a sardonic laugh, "Hardly. I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation… you really don't know who I am?"

Yugi shook his head in confusion, this guy didn't look familiar, the brunette had but he still couldn't put his finger on it.

Atemu sighed and crossed his arms, breaking his gaze off of Yugi (finally) and concentrating on something else in a dimly lit corner of the restaurant.

"Look, that's pretty hard to believe, that you don't know who I am that is… unless you don't watch TV, or read the paper…"

Atemu let his gaze slide back over to Yugi, observing the blush that crept across his face.

"Well, not really, I mean, on occasion if I know something big is happening but besides that it's not really interesting to me. Even then I usually just listen to what gets talked about in school. I work a lot and play a lot of games, you know, card games, board games so— " Yugi stopped, why the heck would he tell this crimson-eyed (handsome… '_Whoa, where did that come from?'_) Freak, anything about what he did? Yugi didn't even know this guys name…

"Look, I really don't know who you are so, can't I at least have a name?" Yugi asked timidly, it couldn't hurt to try.

Atemu couldn't help but grin at the sheer innocence in this kid's eyes.

"If you don't already know, then I don't think you really want to know," He stated.

Yugi was getting impatient, "Look, I can't just say 'hey you' if I'm going to be sitting here with you for much longer."

"Why not? I think it would work just fine since it's only the two of us."

Yugi pouted, causing Atemu to involuntarily smirk once again, "What are we waiting for? Are you just going to sit here and interrogate me? I thought… I mean, I kind of thought you'd have me killed by now."

Atemu sighed and rested his head on his hands, "Now, listen kid,"

"Hey and why are you calling me kid? You can't be that much older than me..."  
The King was taken aback at the interjection, "Um, well, no I guess not. Your record said you were 18?"

"That's right."

Atemu paused then crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm still calling you kid. Now, what was I saying… ah, listen… this business isn't run on killing everyone who gets in our way. I've got to wait to decide what to do with you…"

The lapse in talking cause Yugi's heart to pound, just what was this _business_ that this guy ran…

"But I think I know what would be the best… _punishment_ for listening in… after all, I'm sure someone taught you that it's rude to eves-drop."

Yugi blushed and dropped his head muttering something.

"I didn't quite hear you. Nobody taught you to speak up?" Atemu asked with a smirk.

"I'd take it all back if I could," Yugi said a little louder, "I was just so mad."

Atemu stopped, what was this kid talking about?

Before Atemu could ask, the front doors of the restaurant opened and two familiar figures walked in with one more in toe. The two from the meeting near the warehouses were the first to walk in, the tall brunette with the ice-cold blue eyes, and the blonde… with the gun (Yugi couldn't help but gulp at that again as he checked to see it still snugly holstered against her thigh). The third was a guy that Yugi hadn't seen before, Jou, with jeans and a plain white and blue t-shirt on. The blonde boy stopped as soon as he saw Yugi and crossed his arms. Obviously disappointed.

"_Dat_ scrawny punk is what got yous guys all worked up? He's just'a kid! He's got to be like, 12 or sumtin'!" Jou said with annoyance written on his face. He wanted to be part of their mafia, but not if that entailed babysitting.

Yugi couldn't help but twitch an eye at that statement. He was _18_ darn it. Just because he was short…

"Shut up, mutt." Seto growled at the blonde, "He's your age. Plus, it doesn't matter who we bring in, you shouldn't have even followed."

"Cuz I thought ya'd actually be dealin' wit somebody who was a _threat_." Jou snapped.

Atemu stood; the two shut up and gave him their full attention, "Jou. If you're going to start coming here, even when you know I don't usually allow people in your… _situation_, to do so, then you need to understand, _anyone_ could be a threat. But I've already ran this kid's," he noticed Yugi flinch at once again being called a kid, "background. He's clean from the looks of it. But that doesn't mean he isn't already more involved than he should be."

"Y-you've been calling it 'clean'. Are you… like, cops or something?" Yugi asked.

Atemu looked at Yugi, his slanted eyes grew slightly large, and then he burst out into laughter. The whole room went silent, watching the crimson-eyed man clutch his sides as he doubled over from the innocent question. Trying to contain himself, he looked at a now red-faced Yugi, his large lavender eyes looking downcast.

"No, Yugi, hah, we're _nothing_ like cops." Atemu grinned at the smaller boy and couldn't help but think that the red creeping up on the younger's face had grown.

Yugi seemed to be all out of questions, so Atemu turned his attention back on the trio that had walked in, "So Mai, can you afford to take one more on your staff?"

"You've got to be kidding me, you want _me_ to babysit him?"  
"Hey!" They all looked at Yugi, he'd already dared to make himself the center of attention so he decided to go ahead and voice what he was thinking, "L-look, it's not like I _want _to be here. I'm obviously just a pain to you guys. Why, why don't you just le-let me go? A-And I'm not a kid. Or a baby. Or anything. I don't need to be taken care of."

Atemu smirked; the kid at least had guts. Stuck in a room of thugs, even though apparently he really _was _clueless to the amount of danger he could be in.

Mai blinked, taken aback at the outburst, "Well sorry, honey. Guess I wouldn't mind a guy like you on my staff." She smirked.

"W-Wait. What kind of staff?" Yugi blinked.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVVIVIVIVIV**

"You've got to be kidding me." Yugi said looking into the mirror.

"Hey bud, you got yourself in'ta this so don't look at _me_ wit dem puppy eyes." Jou said crossing his arms, thoroughly not amused at having to help.

Yugi sighed and looked back in the mirror. He'd obviously been given an offer he couldn't refuse (A/N: haaa I couldn't help it), and now he wished he could. He wore gondolier's outfit, complete with a black and white striped shirt, black slacks, (and in his opinion) a stupid hat that tipped to one side due to his spiky hair, and stupid scarf tied neatly around his neck.

"The boss pride's himself on this restaurant's authenticity. I've ran this joint here quite a while, kid—er," Mai stopped herself and looked back at him to see how he'd take the slip, when he didn't correct her, she continued, "I'll show you the ropes in no time."

Mai was standing behind him looking over the uniform.

"But it's a _restaurant_. I swear, if he makes me sing and take orders I'll—"

"Chill out Yug, he won't make ya sing." Jou chuckled.

It seemed like the blush on Yugi's face was permanent.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIV**

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Atemu?" Seto growled as they walked past the kitchens of the restaurant and back towards the staff quarters.

"I'm making sure that a liability is under my constant watch." Atemu said simply, "I've already given his grandfather a call, told him Yugi was selected from his high school for a very special Italian immersion experience. The guardians always fall for that one, always so excited that their little ones are like the freakin' chosen ones. Ha."

"This is risky, Atemu." Seto sighed, "Look, I understand you might be a little bored and think that you can keep him around like a _pet _or something, but don't you remember the _little_ problem our finances are having right now? I don't exactly think this is the best idea."  
"Look Seto, what else would you have me do? He may or may not have heard vital information… sure he doesn't seem to be any sort of spy, but if the enemy gets a hold of him they could get information out of him that's valuable whether he realizes it or not. Like you said, this _little_ problem in our finances isn't something we want anyone on the outside to know anything about."

Seto cringed, "I guess I see your point."

"Good. Then you know why he needs to work here. For a while at least, until we get this whole mess figured out."

Seto stopped, Atemu turned to face him, "What's on your mind, Seto?"

"Atemu, I saw the way you acted around him."

"What do you mean?"  
"You drop your guard around him. The way you laughed… I haven't heard you laugh like that since before…" Seto's sentence trailed off, "Besides, I think that using him as your double is a much better idea. Just think, you'd never have to get in harms way ever again! It's crazy weird how similar you two look… he could be so much better than just working at this _dump_."

"Watch what you call it."

"Oh shove off it Atemu, this place has seen better days you have to admit,"

"Whatever, Kaiba." Atemu sighed looking slightly disconnected, "He's way too naïve to be placed out and cover for me. If he were to go out there, he wouldn't last. I can't bring myself to place him in any amount of danger,"  
"See what I mean… the walls are dropping." Seto mumbled cautiously.

"I'll be careful, Seto." Atemu said before continuing to the back rooms.

"Tch, like I care." Seto said flippantly. "You go down and I get this whole business to myself. That means I'd actually run it like a proper mafia organization. Not tippy-toe around the real crime."

"Always the charmer, Seto."

"It's what I'm good at."

The two walked behind a curtain, joining the trio observing Yugi's new wardrobe. Atemu couldn't help the blush that suddenly crept up on his face. Yugi looked adorable in the outfit he'd been given. The black and white looked good on him, but it was the amethyst accent in the scarf (which must have been Mai's touch, she had a knack for that sort of thing, after all, most of her employees were actually girls, so she knew how to dress them up to look their best) that brought out his eyes, and Ra did he look adorable. The blush that graced Yugi's face gave him even more of an innocent air; Atemu had never seen such angelic features.

Yugi looked up in the mirror's reflection and saw Atemu standing there, when he saw the King move his hand in front of his face and look away he could only think one thing.

"Oh sure, go ahead and laugh at me… it's your fault I'm in this get-up." Yugi pouted, completely clueless.

"Yugi you look adorable." Mai assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and turning him back out of the room, "Come on, hun, I'll get you your schedule and living quarters."

Atemu, Seto and Jou stayed in the room as Mai led Yugi out, starting to list some of his responsibilities.

"Sure you can handle yourself, Atemu?" Seto said with a smirk.

"What'cha mean by that, Kaiba?" Jou asked confused.

Seto looked over to Jou, "Did I ask you, mutt?"

Jou's eye twitched, "Fine, jerk." And he stomped out.

Atemu uncovered his face, smirking at his cousin, showing the remnants of a blush, "Look, Seto. I'll be fine. Why don't you go tend to the puppy you just kicked."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi followed around Mai, trying to remember why he agreed to this.

'_Look, he's giving you the easy way out, take it _kid_ or I'll give you a harder second option.'_ Seto's threat echoed through Yugi's mind.

They _still _refused to give Yugi his captor's name. But he had learned Mai's, Jou's, and Seto's (Kaiba to his face of course). But Crimson (what else could he call him) they didn't bother telling him a name, Yugi looked back over to where Mai was explaining how to lock and unlock draws at the register.

"H-Hey, Mai?" Yugi piped.  
"Yeah?" She responded, looking away from the drawer she had just opened.

"Um… well, since I figure he's going to be around, what's his name? You know, the guy with the red eyes."

"Oh, well, look Yugi, I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you, if he hasn't introduced himself, it's not really my place. I mean he's supposed to only introduce himself, it's sort of against the rules to give his name out without permission."

Yugi's jaw dropped, "Whoa, wait! What rules? If I'm going to be living here shouldn't I know them too? I still don't even know what he meant by this _business_ he runs. I kind of have a hunch that a bunch of restaurant owners wouldn't be meeting in a dark alley with guns just to discuss the next day's menu."  
"You've got spunk Yugi… you better hope it doesn't get you in trouble." Mai sighed, "Let's go find the boss."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**  
:D We're starting to see a bit of Atemu's soft side coming out, hehe!

Hopefully this is long enough! Also, I wanted to clear something up, some people totally change Yami's personality when they talk about "Atem", but I don't really do this.

Oh, and I've been watching season 4 and about died at the amount of amazing Yami x Yugi potential owo ! But Kaiba ticks me off….

Please let me know if you think any OOC-ness is going on here, I've been out of my writing habits for a while, so feel free to give me any complaints/critizism so I can get the hang of this whole mess again :P. Of course, compliments are always nice too ^/ / /^. Thank you so much to tinkletimekelly, Littlekuriboh1fan, Suma-dragon's child, and ObliviusMoon for reviewing the last chapter! I really appreciate it! I've been updating pretty quickly for me so far, but I've been applying to jobs to tide me over until I go back to college this fall so that may/may not take up a lot of time! Just a warning!

I kind of know where I want to take this now, and I'm sure the next couple chapters are going to speed things up a bit in terms of action. After all, half this genre is crime, and what kind of authoress would I be if I didn't hold up that part of the fic, right?


	4. Chapter 4

Some notes at the end! (Disclaimer: I own nothing but the crazy ideas within my head)

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 4**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Atemu had finally gotten Seto off his back. The brunette had quite honestly been starting to piss the crimson-eyed Don off with all his talk about the finances. _Yes_, Atemu realized they had a situation on their hands, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it right now. They hadn't found out who was pulling money out of the family's pockets, so there wasn't anyone to go after… yet.

If Atemu was being totally honest with himself, Kaiba should have been the one to run the business, but Atemu's father was older than Kaiba's, so Atemu got the _"privileged right"_ to have the job. He had become the Don when he was 16, hardly knowing what to do, he wasn't _ready_ to take the position, but didn't have much of a choice. Luckily, Seto had bailed him out of more shit than he could recall. Being the only real family Atemu had left, he felt a strong connection to the brunette, even if said blue-eyed CEO was kind of a jerk, ok not kind of, he was the epitome of the word.

Yugi had come into the picture at a not-so-great time, but Atemu couldn't help but be intrigued by this boy. He was so, innocent, naïve, and so trusting. He was, seemingly, the complete opposite of Atemu. Where they looked so similar, they also differed in the same extremes. Atemu chuckled thinking back to the fake name Yugi had first given him, Higure… more like Nikkou **1**… If Yugi was like the light, then Atemu was like the dark.

Atemu worked his way to the restaurant's kitchens, checking over the menus and preparation details listed on the back wall. He hadn't been to Domino in quite a while to check in on things, but this restaurant seemed to be flourishing. Sure it maybe wasn't in the best of shape appearance wise, as Seto had so kindly pointed out, but Atemu started to think it was about time he put in the extra cash to fix this place up. He was actually half surprised Mai hadn't done it herself; she grew really attached to this side business. Atemu was sure she enjoyed working as a restaurant owner more than she did working for the mafia, she had joined when she was at a low point in her life… crime wasn't really her thing, but she was actually pretty good at roughing people up and getting the job done. Plus, it paid the bills.

"Hey, he wants to ask you something…" Said a voice from behind Atemu.

Atemu smirked and turned around to address Mai, "Well, speak of the devil."

"What? You talking about me?" Mai looked around and gave him a funny look, "To whom? If I may ask?"

Atemu chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, "Just myself, but don't worry about it. Now, what did you need to ask me, Yugi?"  
Yugi cleared his throat slightly, trying to get the dryness to go away, the same anxious worry that held him back from saying quite a few things to this guy about his new predicament.

"Look, I… I think that since I technically work for you, I should have the right to know your name." Yugi explained.

Atemu looked at him and sighed, "Alright kid."

"Really?" Yugi lit up, the innocence again amusing Atemu.

"But," Atemu hesitated, "I think we should make it a little more interesting than just some boring meet and greet."

Yugi's amethyst eyes started to show a hint of worry, "Ok… and by that you mean?"

The King's own crimson orbs flared with delight, "You said you liked to play games, right?"

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

The two were huddled together over a computer in a cramped room. It wasn't the best hide out, but it would have to do for now.  
"Look, he hasn't even tried to track us yet."

"Really? What an idiot, it's not like we've got the greatest security system on our side. He's got Seto _freaking _Kaiba working for him and he's not trying to track us?"  
"Yeah, one of our spies said he saw that they had an intruder in their last meeting, I don't know whether it was another organization or not, but sounds like the King has his hands a little full."  
The darker one smiled, "Great… then he won't miss another chunk from his savings."

The lighter looked at the darker in anticipation, "Are you sure?"  
"Positive."

"What if he's trying to track us and doing a good job of not letting us know… what then?"  
"Then he tracks us and kills us."

"That's encouraging." The lightered turned to begin working at the small computer, reading over numbers and figures, they hesitated, "Wait…"

"What?"

"Look, an alert is going off."  
"Shit. Turn the computer off, _now_." The dark figure growled

The monitor went black.

"That was too close. We'll try back later. Maybe get a new computer. What we took from the King's little group should support us for now."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Seto threw his brief case onto the desk, clearly fed up with having to wait on Atemu to take action. He truly did love his cousin as family does, but he couldn't believe the amount of interest he had taken in this Yugi kid. What if he was a spy, what if he let what he saw slip, what if he went to the cops and let them know about Seto's involvement with Atemu? There were too many risks involved. Sure the cops had tried to pin Seto before, but they never had anything more than him being Atemu's cousin, if they got any evidence on him, that would be the end of Kaiba Corporation and the end of a good amount of The King's financial support. It was easier having a clean company running most of the money; you can only get so much from telling people that they had better pay up for their protection. Domino had its crime rings though, and the King was known for excellent protection services… after all, their mafia was a higher standard. They didn't mess around with petty theft, and didn't kill people very often. They had rules, regulations, guidelines, hell, even morals if you wanted to call them that.

But Seto didn't much care for whoever was trying to mess up what they had going. After all, he believed that this mafia family was just what this city needed to get the low level thugs off the citizen's backs. If it hadn't been for the Three Kings Mafia, half the city of Domino would be over run by guys stealing grannies' purses. Well, maybe not to that extreme, but crime rates would certainly be higher.

And, Seto always thought to himself, at least they weren't doing something like selling drugs to kids… I mean come on; there were plenty of mafias in the surrounding cities that were doing a lot worse than the Three Kings. The Mafioso of the Three Kings weren't allowed to sell drugs, Atemu had a problem with it, so he banned it, and they also were of course banned from theft and kidnapping.

'Although,' Thought Seto with a scowl, 'what would you call what _we_ did to Yugi?'

Maybe taking someone hostage was somehow different from kidnapping to Atemu. Seto didn't know what was going through the King's mind, but usually a situation like Yugi was dealt with quickly and quietly…

And while killing wasn't usually their thing, there was always the exception. After all, this kids only living relative was his Grandpa… it's not like there would be a huge investigation…

Seto shook his head trying to clear his thoughts, 'Atemu sees something in him… I've got to trust his judgment. For now.'

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

"Do you always suck this bad at chess or is this your first time playing?" Atemu asked lazily.

Yugi scoffed, "I do not suck at anything."

He quickly realized how wrong that sounded and continued.

"I'll have you know I'm usually one of the top chess players around…" Yugi quickly blurted out, "I demand a rematch."

Atemu smirked, "No way."

"Fine. How about a different game?"  
"Oh really, what did you have in mind?" Atemu asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, have you ever heard of a game called Duel Monsters?"

"Yugi…I—" Atemu caught himself about to give away that he _owned_ almost half the rights to Kaiba Corporation… of _course_ he knew about Duel Monsters… "Yes, I've heard of it."

Yugi blushed, "Uh well, yeah! How about that?"  
Atemu chuckled, "Let me just go grab my deck."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Seto sat at his desk, clicking furiously away at the charts, cradling a cell phone against his cheek. Papers littered his desk. Even though it was late at night, the CEO was focused completely on his computer and his phone call.

"They must have noticed you some how to cut the computer's connection just in time," Seto spat.

"Yes sir. We don't know how yet though." Said the voice from the other side of the line.

"Look. Do me a favorite and find Bakura and tell him to get his lazy ass up here _now._"

"Yes sir."

Seto slammed the cell phone down. They were so _close _to catching these mofos… and once they did, Seto swore it would be _war_.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

"And that takes out the rest of your life points!" Yugi exclaimed, celebrating a victory over the wine-eyed man.

"Hmm. I think you cheated." Atemu said quite seriously.

"What! I would never cheat!" Yugi said leaning over the table, one hand clenched up next to his face in opposition, trying to drive home his honesty and integrity.

"Hah, I guess," Atemu grinned, "Well if you _did_ win fair and square, I guess I owe you a name."

Yugi nodded, satisfied, and sat back in the booth with a grin, "That's right. So let's have it, boss."

The corner of Atemu's lips twitched, but it was almost sad, " Tell me, Yugi, have you ever heard of a group called the Three Kings?"

Yugi thought, he wasn't sure, but the name did sound slightly familiar… maybe he had heard it on the evening news…

**-A Few Weeks Prior-**

_Yugi was sitting on the counter in the game shop… his legs swung gently as he watched the television sitting out in the storefront. The TV wasn't usually on, but since it had been such a slow evening, the young boy decided to go ahead and watch it for a bit._

'_The Domino Public is advised to stay indoors this evening as reports of a fight has broken out between the street gang, Le Prot__ê__t, and the infamous mafia, the Three Kings. Gunshots have been fired on the corner of…'_

_Yugi remembered seeing a picture of some unknown gang leaders on the television, but no one memorable. He saw that the Three Kings mafia was a group rarely crossed._

**-Present Time-**

"Ah… do you mean that mafia that supposedly has its headquarters in Domino? The same group that made the news a few weeks ago?" Yugi asked.

Atemu nodded, trying to gauge Yugi's reaction, "Yes, that group."

"Sure, I've heard of them… but hey! What does this have to do with your name, you're just stalling…"  
Atemu let the sad smile slip back onto his face, "No Yugi. I'm not stalling. This has everything to do with my name. See, around here, they call me the King."  
Yugi's eyes widened, "You mean you're… you're the head of Three Kings?"

Yugi felt his pulse quicken, he was sitting across from a mob boss? He just beat a freakin' mob boss in a card game and now he was probably about to be killed, maybe he wasn't allowed to know this guys name!

"Yes. I am."

"W-Wait so… what happens to me n-now?" Yugi stammered.

"What do you mean? You're already under our care." Atemu said with a confused look, "You'll work here. Obviously now that you know you're on the mafia's watch, we can't just have you wandering around."  
Yugi gulped, maybe he could run away from this place… Atemu saw the fear creeping into Yugi's eyes and sighed. He reclined against the booth's seat and ran a hand through his multicolored hair.

"Look, Yugi. No one wanted you to get involved. But trust me," Crimson eyes met and locked onto Amethyst, "this is the best thing for you… and your grandfather."

Yugi's weak spot had been hit, "I know… Seto said something about that… that me working here would keep Grandpa safe…"

Atemu nodded, "If any rival gang or mafia found out that you knew what was going on here, they'd be all over your family, and they'd do anything to get information out of you."

"But I hardly know anything!" Yugi protested, "I didn't even get to hear half of what you guys were talking about last night and now…"

The high school student stopped and attempted to subdue a yawn. Atemu looked up at the clock, it was 4 in the morning.

"You must be exhausted," Atemu said looking down at the younger boy, "Just go to bed."

"Where do I sleep?" Yugi let out meekly.

Atemu sighed gently and stood up, "Follow me."

The two headed back down the same hall past the kitchens, and then past the room Yugi had gotten the uniform from. They finally came to the end of the hallway and Atemu pushed aside a curtain. They were in a sort of lobby area; no one else was around, probably already going to bed after the day's commotion. Yugi followed Atemu to the third door on the back wall and entered it when Atemu flicked on the light. It was a pretty simple area, a desk, a bed, and a closet. The walls were a nice blue color, though Yugi guessed it would look nicer with some sunshine coming through the window (which he noticed had bars across it).

"The bathrooms are marked out in the lobby. This space is for employees only. This can be your room. We could always bring things from your home... pillows, sheets, books… anything that makes you feel comfortable." Atemu explained.

Yugi stopped looking around the room to look back at Atemu.

"Why?"  
Atemu's face scrunched up in question, "What do you mean, why? Why what?"

"Why go through all this trouble just to have me here?"

Atemu's face relaxed, "You think we're too soft for a mafia or something?"

"N-No?" Yugi didn't want to offend him.

Atemu saw Yugi's face, innocent and confused, when he began to laugh.

"Sorry Yugi, you've just got the… the best expressions." Atemu had to stop himself from saying _cutest_.

Yugi blushed, "I just don't know why you guys don't… I don't know, lock me in a prison or something."

Atemu grinned, "Servitude is so much more fitting."

Atemu watched the redness on Yugi's face continue to grow and he chuckled, he didn't want to tell the shorter boy that not only did he want Yugi under 24/7 watch, he had actually looked into the Game Shop and knew it wasn't doing so hot in finances itself. If Yugi worked here, he'd make more than enough to help his Grandpa out… but Atemu decided the little game boy could figure it out himself.

"Well," Atemu sighed, "I'll let you be then."

"G-Goodnight."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**1** Nikkou (Japanese) : Sunlight

Soooo? What did you guys think? Who do you think is behind the money issues? :3 To be perfectly honest I'm not sure where I'd like to go with the plot in this story yet (again) so I'm toying with some different ideas.

ALSO: PLEASE be aware that I am going to be house sitting this entire week, I also got a new job as a cashier (woo), and have several meetings to attend this week. That being said, this story has honestly just been flowing, I don't feel like I'm writing it half the time but more that it's just... writing itself I suppose? I hope you all have been enjoying it and I just wanted to say that I'm very sorry if it takes a while for the next chapter to come out! I've got three pages of chapter 5 written so far, so I'm hoping to continue knocking 'em out ;) !

Please review if you can and help me out!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh!, you would know… ooohhh trust me you would know… (and if you recognize anything else, most likely, it's not mine! So don't sue me and/or chew me out.). I claim nothing.

Please see my notes at the end for more random information!

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 5**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi watched as Atemu walked back towards the front exit of the restaurant. Turning shyly back towards his new room, he couldn't help but sigh. He still had so many questions… he didn't even get a _real _name… just "the King". How ominous.

Yugi started to think about his Grandpa, wondering if he was doing well, as he found a pair of simple blue pajamas in one of the drawers. There were several different sized pairs; he grabbed the smallest ones there were. They were still a little big for his tiny frame, but fit nonetheless. Yugi looked into a mirror in his room. Mai had told him that tomorrow he could just get adjusted to being here, but the day after that he'd have to start training for work. Hopefully working here wouldn't be too bad… who knew; maybe he could learn some good business strategies for the Game Shop? But… what if he got caught working here, since it's technically mafia run… could he be putting his Grandpa in danger? He'd have to ask the King next time he saw him.

Curling up in the cotton sheets, warmth enveloping him, Yugi drifted off into a peaceful sleep… crimson eyes flashing in his memory before complete darkness.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Morning light poured through the windows of Atemu's loft apartment in downtown Domino. Atemu had a meeting with Seto back at his offices at Kaiba Corporation. Hopefully the two of them could get closer to figuring out the financial problems, and hopefully they wouldn't have any interruptions this time.

The crimson-eyed Don checked himself in the mirror once more. Black suit, white shirt, and a silk black tie, complete with gold cuff links and of course his patent leather shoes. The outfit itself was simple, but it made Atemu look like a rock star. He grabbed his sunglasses, slipped them on, and headed out to his Benz in the parking lot.

"Good morning, Herr Kaji." Greeted his driver. **1**

"Hey Franz."

"Where to?" Franz opened the door as Atemu slipped into the back seat.

"I need to see Seto. He should be at Kaiba Corporation's main headquarters."

"Yes sir. Right away." Franz shut the door and moved around the car to get into the drivers seat.

"Oh but, Franz?"

"Yes, Herr Kaji?"  
"I need coffee."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Mai was wiping off the bar, working on setting up the registers before the lunch opening time. It was still only 8 in the morning, they generally opened at 11:30, and so she had enough time to get situated. It had been a late night with getting Yugi on the team. Luckily he'd be paid under the table, so at least she didn't have to deal with paper work bullshit that usually came along with a new hire. Mai couldn't decide if she should have Yugi working as a host, waiter, or bus boy. Atemu had mentioned working him as a waiter, but perhaps customers seeing Yugi's smiling face first thing as a host would be the best for the kid.

Mai grinned; the amethyst-eyed boy certainly had charm… she could see why Atemu wanted to keep him around… for more than just security purposes.

"Good morning, Ms. Mai." Came a voice form the hallway.

"Oh! Yugi! Good morning! You're up pretty early, you could sleep in if you needed." Mai suggested with a smile.

"It's OK, I'm used to waking up early… you know, school and all."

"That's right… did the King say anything to you about how he wants you to go about getting to school?"  
Yugi shook his head, "No. We didn't get to talk about a lot after he told me he was, well, who he is."

"Alright," Mai sighed; "We can figure that out later. Lucky for us it's a Saturday anyway."

Yugi nodded and followed Mai to the registers that she had been counting, "What will I be doing then?"

"Hmm… well I was hoping to talk to you about that," She glanced over at him, noticing he hadn't put on the uniform, "You could either: wear that same outfit as yesterday and wait tables… I'm pretty sure Kingy just picked it out to tease you."

"What's the other option?" Yugi quickly asked with a shudder remembering the embarrassing outfit he'd tried on yesterday night (or perhaps this morning).

"Well, I suppose all black formal attire and working host wouldn't be too bad?"

"That would be great!" Yugi grinned, "I'd just have to greet and seat people right?"

"Pretty much," Mai shrugged, "It's a start anyway. But you'll also have to keep track of the open tables, I'll help you learn that, and remember Yugi… in this position you would be the first and last thing most people see coming into the restaurant. You pretty much have a smile plastered to your face… but while you're working do try to remember that being greeted by a friendly smile is the best thing!"

Yugi nodded, "Right!"

Mai grinned, "You're such a character, Yugi. I think you'll be a great host."

"Thanks, Mai-san." Yugi said, face turning red.

"And please, just Mai is fine."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Atemu made his way up to Kaiba's offices, coffee now warming his hands and his insides. He smiled faintly, what a turn last night had taken… but now it was back to business. Red eyes flashed, something dangerous was stirring in him. A darker side of him. The side that had ran this mafia for the past six years without getting killed. Sure he had done some things that he wasn't quite proud of… but this was the business. This was the closest thing he had to family. And right now, this family, _his _family, was going through some hard times. So personal life aside, he'd be _damned_ if someone thought they could screw around with his family and get away with it. He rode the elevator to the top floor; of course Seto's office would be on the top floor… it was the only elevation that could handle his ego.

The crimson-eyed Don stepped out of the lift and walked towards the large glass doors to the only office on the entire floor. A gold (probably real gold knowing Seto) plaque with the CEO's name was hung meticulously next to the doors. Atemu, not needing to knock, swung the doors wide open and was greeted by two figures: The first being his brunette cousin, the second being the supposed _rat _in their whole operation.

"Seto." Atemu greeted, his eyes still locked on the second figure.

"Atemu." Seto replied.

"Kingy, what a pleasant surprise." Said the second with a broad grin.

"Bakura. It's been a while."

Atemu couldn't help but let his eyes graze over the scar under Bakura's right eye. It was shaped like a sideways H and went down the length of the man's face. Bakura's tan skin matched Atemu's, the same exotic like tan, but Bakura's white hair and white scar caused a stark contrast. While Bakura wasn't one of the three heads in the family, he was still a damn important guy. Bakura had run most of the extortion business, earning him the nickname the "Thief King", but this money slipping away in his ranks was a problem.

Bakura was a Capodecina and as such was in charge of 10 soldiers. But now it came down to if it was Bakura himself instructing a button **2** to pocket the money, or if it was an associate working on his own. Whoever it was, they had one thing for certain: a death wish.

"I figured I'd be talking to you soon. Mai has been snooping around like la fucking pula **3**. I realize there's money slipping out and it's my responsibility to plug the hole." Bakura's steel blue eyes **4** stared right into Atemu's crimson, "I can assure you. It hasn't been because of anything I've been starting, and we've been doing some, ah, _rearranging_ of my members. Trust me, if any more comes out of the bank, it's not one of ours pulling this shit."

"How can I trust you." It wasn't a question.

"Don't even kid me…" Bakura crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Atemu snipped.

"Look, Pharaoh, you know me. We grew up together. Don't fuck around like this. Or was everything I did for you in Egypt nothing?" Bakura sneered.

Atemu licked his lips at the nickname Pharaoh, Bakura was one of the few allowed to call him that to his face, "Don't even mention that here. That was a long fucking time ago. You know you've changed."

"For the better, I'd like to think. You've given me a family here that I wouldn't have had otherwise if I had been left in that sand-hell-hole."

It was deep for Bakura to say something like that, that Atemu had given him this family, but Atemu could tell he was telling the truth. Crimson eyes broke away from steel and he nodded. The two had grown up together in Egypt, what Bakura said was true. When no one else would watch after them, they watched after each other. Both of their dads were mafia, and it was before Atemu had met Seto in Japan, so Atemu and Bakura had become like brothers almost. They would pull their own stunts, their own crimes, stealing from shops, petty theft… it was something they could do to make themselves feel useful. Then when they were finally old enough, they started working for the boss… but it wasn't long before Atemu had climbed ranks quicker than Bakura… and a long time after that they met back in Japan when Atemu finally had the means to bring Bakura under his wing… but it was all long ago…

"So… what do we do now?" Seto asked breaking the silence.

Atemu's eyes suddenly flashed back to life, "We find the son of a bitch behind this and make sure they can never pull a stunt like this ever again."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Mai glanced up at the clock, "Hey Yugi, you ready to take a break? You've been studying the seating arrangement for quite a while, have it memorized yet?"  
Yugi grinned and nodded, "I think I do actually."

"Where's booth 3—no peaking at the chart!"

"Um, there!" Yugi pointed to the third farthest booth on his side of the wall.

"Table 8?"

Yugi pointed again, Mai smiled, "It's a great start. Now come on, take a load off."

The blonde patted a stool up at the bar next to her. Yugi walked over and slipped onto the stool, sighing as he felt the pressure lift off his feet. Yugi folded his arms across the bar and rested his head on them.  
"Want anything to drink?" Mai asked polity and quietly into Yugi's ear.

"Oh! No thank you! W-Would you like me to get you anything?" Yugi sat up straight and was blushing, feeling foolish for being such a burden.

Mai chuckled, "You're sweet, Yugi, really. But I offered, also, I've got my poison."

She smiled holding up a half-emptied glass of ice water and taking another sip through the straw.

"O-Ok." Yugi smiled and leaned back on his arms, looking to the paperwork Mai had laid out in front of her, "What's that? If I can ask?"  
Mai nodded, "It's paper work for getting this place looking half way decent. The King actually gave me permission to fix this place up, he's being quite generous too…"

"When was the last time it was 'fixed up'?" Yugi asked.

"When it was built." She glanced over to him, "I don't know why we never got around to it, this is one of the King's favorite restaurants… the location is really nice, right next to the ocean, ya know? And in a busy enough area that we get a good customer flow… he just hasn't been to Domino in so long… I guess keeping it up slipped his mind. But he's put me in charge of the new paints and picking out furniture… it's so tedious."

"Would you want me to try and help?"

Mai blinked, "Sure, hun," She tossed a magazine of furniture in front of him, "Knock yourself out."

Yugi and Mai had sat for quite some time looking through the elaborate decorating magazines and talking about the day-to-day things that happened at the restaurant before Mai's cell went off. Yugi looked at the clock, they were supposed to be open a half hour ago, yet no customers had come to visit, yet.

Mai answered the call and her face grew harsh, she confirmed whatever the other speaker had said and hung up quickly.

"Well Yugi, the boss is coming in today with some visitors." She explained.  
"What do I need to do?" He asked dutifully as she flipped the sign from 'open' to 'close'.

"Keep your mouth shut when they come in, unless the King asks you a specific question, and seat the entire party at table 7. I can handle everything else."

Yugi nodded, nervous about what was to come… who were the visitors… did Mai know or was it going to be a surprise to all of them. He quickly scurried to the back of the restaurant, grabbing the black host outfit that Mai described to him, found in one of the drawers in the dressing cabinet in his room. He slipped it on, the pants fit perfect, the shirt was a bit baggy, but after tucking it in, he didn't look half bad. Quickly going to the bathroom to wash his face, Yugi then proceeded to walk back to the front of the restaurant and Mai handed him a dark purple apron.

"Here," She handed him the material and he wrapped it, without protest, around his waist.

Luckily, he had thought, it wasn't one that covered his entire front, just his hips, making it slightly more bearable to wear. He stuffed a pad of paper, a pen and pencil into the pockets of his apron. While he shouldn't need them, Mai thought he'd better have it just in case. He went to stand by the podium at the front doors… nervously awaiting the familiar crimson-eyed Don to walk through at any moment.

When Yugi saw a shadow on the other side of the door, his breath hitched. A whole mafia gang could be walking through at any moment… and the only people around were himself and Mai. True enough, Yugi didn't know that Mai could hold her own in a fight, but Yugi could still feel a chill at the thought of being surrounded by dangerous men.

However, the man to walk through the door looked less than dangerous. Jou's blond hair was messy, his clothes not quite on straight, and he was panting as if he'd just run a good distance.

"Sorry Mai!" He yelled to the back, "I seemed ta' have over slept!"  
Mai poked her head over the bar from where she'd been stocking the taps, "I figured as much. You're lucky Seto twists my arm to let you work here."

"Oh please, he'd rather me not work but ya know that just ain't me. I ain't gonna take any hand outs from 'im." Jou said with a cheesy grin, one hand going up to scratch the back of his head.

Jou's smile faded and he turned to Yugi, "Hey, there bud!"

Yugi blinked; apparently Jou was done pouting that Yugi was 'just a kid'. Holding up a hand in greeting, Yugi tried his best to smile, despite still being off guard to the sudden attitude twist. Jou paused when he realized Yugi's confusion.

"Ahh, look," He started, sticking out his hand, "I'm Katsuya Jonouchi! But you can just call me Jou, everybody else does anyway and it's a lot easier ta say."

Yugi gave an honest grin this time, "It's nice to meet you, Jou-san."

"Whoa! Now there's no need 'ta be so formal! Just Jou!"

"Well alright then, just Jou," the two smiled, "I'm Motou Yugi!"

"Nice ta meet ya, Yug'!"

The two shook hands.

"Alright you two, if we're done with the introductions, let's get ready. The boss should be here any moment."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**1 **_Herr_: Mister (German), I couldn't help having Franz use it.

**2 **_Button_, slang, a soldier of the mafia

**3 **_la Pula:_ shortened form of _polizia _(police) (Italian, Italian-American)

**4 **From the few reference pictures, they look more steel blue/grey than anything else… so I'm sorry if this is wrong, but that's what I'm going with.

Soooo I'm also sorry if Atemu/Bakura's background is kind of fuzzy, it's not too important… I'm just trying to get across that they have a history and have known each other for quite some time. I'm ALSO sorry if this story is completely lame… I've been reading some other fanfics and I just feel like this one is hardly any good. But I'll keep writing it anyway, at least until it's finished. Hopefully it won't be a complete disaster. I've been really busy, I also got a new job as a cashier so I'll be pretty busy for the next few week until I get into that mind set of actually having to go to work (ugh), but it's been good so far but I am exhausted… 6 hours yesterday (just standing) is really catching up to me (no chairs to sit on, and only one 15 minute break).

I'll keep you as up to date as possible, and in the mean time, if it's not too much to ask, I'd appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.

**Thank you so much** to those of you who have reviewed! It means a lot to me and your comments ARE NOT just skipped over! I realize there is a reply button to comment back when left a signed review, but I'm not sure people want to hear my "thank you very much" every time they leave me a comment so I figured I'd say it here and hope you all take this as personal, not just a vague "thanks for reading", but truly a sign that I appreciate you!


	6. Chapter 6

Three Kings Chapter 6

01:35

**Disclaimer**: Seriously. I claim nothing. So don't sue me.

**Chapter Warnings**: Language, Violence

**Chapter Summary**: Two mafias have a meeting, someone gets shot! A guy looks like a shark, names are learned, friendships are formed, and we're leaving Domino!

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 6**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Jou rushed back towards the kitchens to start up the usual courses; luckily Mai had already started warming the ovens. Yugi learned that Jou was the best chef they'd ever had here, and Mai admitted (privately) to Yugi that she may have been fibbing a bit that Seto twisted her arm… the kid had a talent for making food that she'd never tasted before.

As Yugi resumed feigning causality at the podium near the door, he couldn't help but hear when a car drove awfully close to the front doors (which were near to the sidewalk) and doors opening and shutting. Some low voices were heard, along with some casual sounding chatter. When the doors swung open, Yugi recognized two of the six people standing in front of him.

In front was of course, the King himself, looking stunning in his black suit, and to his right was Seto as usual. But to the King's left was a white haired, tan man with a huge scar that Yugi definitely had not seen before. There were three men behind them that gave Yugi the creeps:

The first man he noticed was short, about his own height, pudgy, bald, and hid his eyes behind small rounded orange glasses. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back, though he could probably seem harmless, the truth was, he gave Yugi goose bumps… as if at any second the man would whip out some sort of torture device… **1**

The second man was tall and thin, not helplessly thin, more of an athlete's thin, and Yugi couldn't help but admit to himself: extremely good looking. He had fierce green eyes, which were outlined in dark makeup, and his left eye was accented with a thin black line running down his cheek in a way that was anything but trashy. More exotic than anything. He had sleek black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with his bangs pushed up and out of his face with a red headband checked with black diamonds.

The third man, while not as deformed looking as the first, nor as 'pretty' as the second was the one who scared Yugi the most. He had black, almost blue, hair, which was pulled back into a simple ponytail reaching down to his waist. The man's skin was flawless and dark, only slightly lighter than his hair, and he had the deepest black eyes Yugi had ever seen. It scared him, then, when the man's cold face suddenly broke out into a grin, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, _sharp_ looking teeth… almost like a shark finding a good meal. **2**

Yugi remembered what Mai said: He was the first and last thing people saw when coming into the restaurant… so he smiled at the group approaching.

"Ahh, new meat?" The third man asked, maybe Yugi was right about the shark comparison.

The King gave him a look Yugi couldn't decipher, "Just hired."

Though Yugi could tell something was tense between the two, Yugi kept the smile on his face as he instructed them gently to follow him to their designated table. Yugi turned quickly, six menus in hand, and showed them to a table (number 7) located in about the middle of the room. The six men sat, a polite chuckle every now and again from the King as they talked about seemingly meaningless things. Yugi placed a menu in front of each one of them and started to turn, resisting the urge to run, to the bar where Mai was standing. Before he got even a step however, a cold, hard hand grabbed his wrist. He almost yelped but resisted, turning to look into the black eyes of the third man.

"Say… what's your name?" He asked, Yugi squirmed uncomfortably as the man looked him over.

"His name is Higure." Atemu quickly lied, "And I'd appreciate it if you gave my staff their wrists for further use."

"Higure, huh?" The man said, not letting go, either not paying attention to the King or just not caring, "That hardly fits you! Your smile is brighter than the sun… I'd love to see more of it."

Yugi was scared shitless now, though he couldn't help the blush creeping upon his face. What the was he supposed to do when some mafia guy was hitting on him! This wasn't part of the deal! Yugi's panicked look moved to Atemu who picked up on it.

"We've got business to attend to, if you don't mind letting my staff go, _now_, Zorc." Crimson eyes flashed to blood red for a moment, if it wasn't just Yugi's imagination or adrenaline.

_Zorc_? What the hell kind of a name was Zorc….

Yugi let out a tension in his shoulders and a breath he didn't know he was holding when the ice-cold grip released his wrist.

"So touchy, Atemu." 

Atemu?

"Higure, you can go now." Atemu said flatly, now not hiding his displeasure with the man named Zorc.

Yugi nodded and not missing the opportunity, made a beeline back towards the bar. Shuffling behind it and towards the doors to the kitchen. Mai touched Yugi's hand as he passed, a welcomed warm and soft change from

Zorc's cold and hard hand.

"Listen hun, you stay back in the kitchens for now. I can handle their order." Mai whispered.

Yugi nodded, still too shaken from Zorc to trust his voice, and thankful for Mai's interjection.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi had slipped behind the bar and into the kitchens, Atemu watching carefully as if his eyes left the shorter boy he'd get into some _other_ kind of trouble. Made Atemu was mad taking this kid into his care… after all, if Zorc paid him any attention, Atemu could hardly block his attempts for long without either claiming Yugi as his own or starting a war… neither of which he could do, and neither that would much phase Zorc.

The six men sat at the table, a sort of hush had befallen the three members of the Three Kings, but the three opposite them seemed just as relaxed as ever.

"So Atemu," Atemu flinched at Zorc using his name so casually, _friendly_ almost, "You have to tell… what _is_ the occasion… you calling us all out like this."

"Our operation has been having troubles."

The short bald one let out a laugh, Atemu let his crimson gaze meet the man's bright orange sunglasses, "Something funny Gebelk?"

The man only shook his head.

"These wouldn't happen to be financial troubles, would they?" Zorc chirped.

Atemu quirked an eye brow, "How did you know?" 

Zorc's shark-like smile slipped onto his face, "Call it a hunch."

There was a pause, "I take it you haven't tracked who's responsible for it?"

This time the question was from the green-eyed man, Ryuji Otogi.

"No." Came Bakura's response.

"And so you need our help?"

"Hardly." Seto stated, "What we need is to make sure you're not behind it. Because if you are—"

Atemu placed a hand on Seto's shoulder, signaling him that was quite enough, and looked back directly into Zorc's eyes, "What Seto is saying is that we're going to catch who's behind it… and if they happen to be an acquaintance, then any truce will be severely and immediately broken."

Zorc's face, smile now gone, turned to a look like stone, "Understandable."

Another pause, Mai approached the table, "Anything you need boss?"

Atemu shook his head, "No. I think we're quite done here."

The party stood to leave towards the doors, but Zorc stopped Atemu before they exited, "You know, that host of yours, he's quite attractive."

Atemu looked up from putting on his suit jacket, "Why do you think I need to know you think this?" 

"Well, how about we make a deal? I'm sure I could help you through your financial situation if you, ah—_lend_, me that kid for a while." Zorc's smile make the Don want to vomit.

Atemu paused, though he had his suspicions on Zorc's role in the missing money, he didn't want to start a war because he denied some spoiled brat a play thing. But the thought of letting Yugi go anywhere with this trash made him sick to his stomach. When Atemu glanced over to Seto and Bakura he could tell they thought the same thing.

"Sorry. He's not mine to lend out." 

"Sure he is! What's he got, a debt to pay? That's usually why they work here." 

"Not to be rude, but it's none of your business why he's here." 

"Touchy, touchy." Zorc repeated, "I was just wondering…"

Atemu didn't say anything more as he walked towards the doors, slipping on his sunglasses.

That's when the shot rang out. The volume made Atemu's head buzz and he hit the ground fast and hard, he couldn't tell if he'd been shot. The adrenaline was pumping, and he pulled out his own gun from his waist band.

A body lay a few feet away, blood seeping from it's chest, still convulsing.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi had scurried right back into the kitchens and saw Jou working over a pot of some sort of soup. He relaxed, feeling all the tension from the incident with the guy named Zorc fade away. His body shimmied past Jou and looked into the pot as he went.

"What are you making, Jou?" He asked looking into the brown liquid.

"Italian Wedding Soup!" The blonde answered, "One of 'ta favs around here, ya know! Gotta have it ready first or else I'd be shit outta luck when the crowds come in."

Jou saw the way Yugi flinched at his swear and gave the shorter boy a sheepish grin, "Sorry Yug', I'm so used to ta guys around here swearin' like sailors 'an all…"

"Oh! Don't mind me! I'm just not used to it yet, I guess." Yugi explained.

"Well don' worry bud, I'll try 'ta keep it at a minimum around ya."

"Thanks Jou," Yugi smiled, "You're a really nice guy."

Jou laughed, "Thanks! I don't think ya'd be saying that if ya knew me a few years ago though."

Yugi cocked his head to the side, "Why's that?" 

"Well, I used ta be quite the bully, and ya already know I got ties with this place so I ain't a saint or nothin'" Jou smirked.

"You don't have to be a saint to be a nice guy." Yugi commented, "Everybody has a past… it just depends on who you are right now."

Jou thought this over for a minute, "Ya know, you're right. Thanks Yug'"

"For what?"

Jou flashed a big grin, "For bein' a pal."

Yugi blushed. He really hadn't had any close guy friends in a while… it was nice. He thought about the guys he knew at his school, there was Honda… but that was pretty much it… and he wouldn't call him a friend either. Just an acquaintance. What did he _do _before coming here? As Yugi thought it over he got more and more sure that the only thing in his life before the _incident_ was trying to get Anzu's attention…

"So what's Mai got ya doing around here?" Jou's voice interrupted Yugi's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Uh, well she's got me working as the host right now, as you saw, but I don't know what else she's going to want me to do."

"If she asks you to stock, say no."

"Why?"

"Just trust me on this one," Jou laughed, "It took me years to figured out her crazy system. Just let me handle it."

The blond winked and Yugi grinned. This could be quite the friendship…

They heard the shot. Yugi jumped, Jou as well, but not nearly as high, Yugi looked to Jou, paniced.

"W-was th-that a gu-un shot?" He asked shakily.

Jou suddenly supplied a pistol from the folds of his clothing, "I'm not sure, but stay close."

Yugi shuffled behind Jou as they approached the bar doors. Mai burst through, pistol drawn.

"Jou! Get Yugi to the back room now! Stay there until I come get you!"

Jou nodded and immediately grabbed Yugi's arm and dragged him off.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Mai burst back through the kitchen's doors to see the two surviving members of Zorc's crew driving away. The third laying in a puddle of blood.

"What the fuck happened?" Atemu bellowed.

Mai spoke up, "This asshole," She kicked the body of Gebelk, "Pulled his fucking gun on you. I got to him first. Had mine ready to go since these cock-suckers walked through the door. Untrustworthy bastards."

Atemu walked over to Mai and hugged her tightly, "Thank you, Mai."

Mai hugged back before pushing him off, "Yeah you owe me big time."

Atemu didn't miss the playful glint in her eye and he chuckled, "Well, I guess this means we gotta close up shop here for a while."

"Seriously?" Seto said, his voice rugged from adrenaline.

"Yes. Seriously. You know Zorc will be back." Atemu said flatly.

"Yeah, probably with gasoline and a match." Bakura spat, wiping a little blood leaking from the cut on his lip.

Seto growled, "So where the fuck do we go? At least we know these are the assholes behind it."

"Yeah, we know that, but it doesn't get us very far, we still have to update our security… how the _fuck_ did they get past it?" Atemu swore, mostly to himself.

"Don't ask me." Bakura mused, "Maybe Zorc's hired somebody who used to work for us.

"Bullshit." Seto commented, "I hardly think one of the guys who used to work for us would be able to walk five feet before having their head blown off if they betrayed us."

"Well it's a thought," Atemu guarded, "And certainly a start. But…"

Seto looked at him, "I know that look… what are you thinking?"

"I think I need some extra help."

Bakura stopped mid-step, "No way."

"Yes. Way. We're going to Egypt."

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**1** Incase the description doesn't give it away OR you haven't read far enough into the manga/watched the series far enough, this is Hobson, however I'm calling him by his ancient Egyptian name Gelbelk. He freaks me out. He used to be in charge of the dungeons, hence the torture device reference, and hence why he doesn't last very long in this chapter.

**2** The first black guy probably ever mentioned in a YGO fanfiction and I make him the bad guy. Wow I suck. Sorry Ebony… :P

**A/N:** So I think I said I got a job as a cashier and they are giving me 9 hour work days (AHHHH!-shoots self-) so my legs are dying, and part time is slowly turning into full time. At least I love the people I work with… but it's just gonna be rough. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I always seem to get to a point and think, OK that's enough for now. Hopefully you don't mind.

_**PLEASE**_ let me know what you think. I don't like to complain… but my last chapter had 75 people read it… and three reviews… T^T… it's just really nice to get some feedback. Thanks.

And don't think I won't write or something because I'm not getting reviews, I just get inspired by them so the chapters might suck less with them xD !

Anyway! Thank you SO VERY MUCH TO:

**ObliviusMoon, Suma-dragon's child, **and **YukitoNO1** **!**


	7. Chapter 7

Three Kings Chapter 7 20:39

**Disclaimer: **I do not own YGO… -cries-

**Chapter Warnings: **Bodies, shameless attempts at beginning puzzleshipping, scary dream sequence(?), dueling? (without cards).

**Chapter Summary: **Yugi worries and Atemu comforts; mafia wealth is flaunted in the form of a private jet; Yugi eats breakfast with Bakura, Marik and Malik; Bakura and Malik duel (without cards!);

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 7**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi's hands were shaking badly as he stood with Jou in a dimly lit room waiting for Mai to come pull them out. He still couldn't forget the look on her face, wild almost, with her pistol drawn and hair awry. That gun shot… had it hit someone? Was everyone OK?

'_Is Atemu OK?'_ He found himself thinking over and over… telling himself he only cared so much because he didn't know the white haired guy, Seto didn't seem like the kind of guy to die in a gun fight, and Mai seemed alright besides the adrenaline rush… so where was Atemu…

"H-Hey Jou? Do you think it's over yet?" Yugi asked, he couldn't hide the concern in his voice.

"I dun know, Yug'… but we gotta stay put until Mai comes ta get us. I imagine she's worried about ya."

"Yeah I mean, they think I know something that could help out the enemies, right?"

Jou laughed and gave Yugi a wink, "Well yeah, and I think she's got a soft spot for ya!"

Yugi's tell-tale blush crept up once more. He felt happy knowing that. Some how, Mai was like the mother Yugi didn't have… **1**

Jou had sat his pistol down near the door and relaxed. He had explained to Yugi that this room they were in could survive very well anything. Guns, fires, rocket launchers, probably. But he had his doubts on whether it could handle a nuclear bomb or not. Yugi supposed this was to comfort him that they were safe… but he still wasn't concerned for his own safety…

There was a knock at the door and Jou had his gun back in hand in a second. Standing close to the frame, he called out for the knocker to identify themselves.

Mai's shaken voice came back through the frame, "It's me."

"Password."

"Jou, just open the damn door."

"Hey! What the hell is the point of having a freakin' password if we're never gonna use it?"

"Fine," She muttered something under her breath and then, "Dakota."

"Thank you." Jou swung the door open.

Mai stood there and held up a weak hand in a wave, "Hey guys. Bakura and Atemu are cleaning up."

"Great. What happened?"

Mai started leading them back through the living quarters and towards the front of the shop as she explained:

"Well, that asshole Zorc was trying to get Atemu to… well, to do something he didn't seem to want to do. The spoiled jerk must have been fed up with things not going his way and he gave that fat little—ugh…" Mai seemed to be trying to contain herself, "He gave the creep some sort of signal and Gelbelk pulled out his gun. I was faster. Right now his body is being moved."

Yugi froze, "B-body?"

The two turned to look at Yugi's quickly whitening face, "Uh, yeah… maybe you should hang back Yugi. I'll come get you in a second."

Yugi watched as the two headed towards the front of the restaurant, he heard talking and then something _dragging_… it was enough to make him need to sit down. He back tracked towards his room, shutting the door part way, and sitting on the bed.

He heard some commotion, but didn't move. The dragging sound came into the living area and out the back door. He thought he heard Seto's voice saying something about how it was a 'good thing the carpet was colored red'. There was a knock at his door and he let out a weak 'Come in'. Not that he thought anyone around here needed his permission…

"How are you feeling?" The deep voice asked.

Yugi looked up to see Atemu's crimson eyes studying his face. He wondered if he looked as sick as he felt.

"I've been better." Yugi said plainly.

Atemu sighed, "I'm sorry you had to be here when it happened. Zorc's an asshole and I didn't want to have a meeting with him but it was necessary. And at least now we know he's behind our current issues, somehow."

There was a moment of silence…

"Are you OK?" The words were out of Yugi's mouth before he could stop them.

Atemu's eyes softened and he laughed a little, "Yes, I'm OK. Thanks to Mai."

"Right."

Atemu's gaze shifted to look outside the window of Yugi's room.

"This is part of my life, Yugi. I'm not proud of it. But things like this have happened before. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still feeling the adrenaline rush of almost being shot… as twisted as that probably sounds, but it's just life here." The Don explained.

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Atemu asked honestly

When Yugi didn't answer, Atemu went to stand directly in front of him, "Look at me."

Amethyst eyes looked up into Crimson. Atemu put his hands on Yugi's shoulders and bent at his knees to come face to face with the smaller boy.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. This isn't where you belong. And as soon as this blows over I'll let you go back to your Grandpa… but for now, I'm sorry, I have to keep an eye on you. Not because we don't trust you, but because Zorc is a lot less friendly than we are."

"I've noticed…" Yugi said with a tired grin.

"Well, then I have a question."

Yugi's mind suddenly flew, a question? What kind of question?

"Y-yeah?" Yugi was suddenly aware of how close his face was to Atemu's.

"Do you… have a passport?"

If Yugi was an anime character he imagined he would have fallen straight to the floor, face planted securely into the carpet.

"Uh… ha, no…" Yugi replied.

"Hmm… well that's going to be an issue… but easily fixed." Atemu commented.

"Wait am I going some where?" Yugi asked as Atemu made his way to the door.

"We all are, Yugi. To Egypt."

"Egypt?"

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi had only been on a plane once before, going to Tokyo with his grandpa who had wanted to see the touring Ancient Egyptian exhibit at the Tokyo National Museum… but this was nothing like the plane he had been on before.

For one thing, it was about twice as big, for another thing, it had about fifty people attending to their individual beck and call. Caviar? You got it. Wine? Champagne? Sprite? Name your poison. They'll serve it.

The Boeing 747-8 VIP was like an office building in the sky. Conference rooms, bedrooms, full bathrooms! The pilot took the time to show Yugi around, but Yugi still thought he'd get lost walking around on it. It could seat almost 500 people… Yugi wondered if this was a bit overkill. **2**

They had taken off smoothly and were in the air. Looking out a window, Yugi suddenly felt very small…

A hand tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see Atemu handing him something.

"What's this?" He asked taking the small booklet.

"A passport. You'll need it when we land." The crimson–eyed youth explained.

Yugi flipped it open, it had his information except… "Hikari?"

Atemu smiled, "I hope you don't mind too much. I figured you would be safer if your name was changed."

"Why Hikari though?"

"Well, Zorc knows the name Higure now. We'll use Hikari while in Egypt."

"What about my Grandpa?" Yugi said starting to feel like this was far too much.

"He's safe, Yugi. I promise you. He's got someone watching him at all times and I made sure to send someone in to work with him in the shop. He didn't like it at first but he's happier now that someone else is doing the harder work."

"It should be me helping." Yugi mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Yugi turned to look back out the window, he was suddenly extremely homesick even though it'd only been two days since they left Domino and only a few hours since they left the airport at Tokyo.

"Look, Yugi… I assure this will be over soon." Atemu reached out and placed one of his hands on the boy's shoulder, "Just hang in there. If you'd like, Jou was talking about playing a game on the upper deck?"

Yugi couldn't help it, his mood lifted with the word game.

"What kind of game?"

"I think it was called Reversi?" **3**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi had beaten Jou in their fifth game of Reversi when Jou finally said he was going to bed. Seto, Atemu and Mai had stuck around to watch the last couple rounds but Bakura, Marik and Malik had left as soon as the talk of board games were discussed.

With the thought of bed, Yugi found himself becoming quite exhausted. Today had been a trial.

"It's been quite a day for you." Atemu's voice interrupted.

Yugi spun around to face him, "Can you read thoughts or something?

Atemu laughed, "What do you think I am? Some sort of super human?" **4**

Yugi blushed, "Well, I was just thinking about how tired everything made me today."

"Yes. I don't doubt that. Do you remember where your room is?" Atemu asked lightly.

"I-I think so. It's hard to say since this place is like a hotel on wings." Yugi stated bluntly.

"Quite," Atemu smirked, "Well allow me to help you out."

Atemu led Yugi towards the top level of the plane and showed him his "skylight" room. It was actually really quite a step up from his room at the back of the restaurant. He had his own TV, recliner, and bed which was placed against three windows. Yugi was excited to climb under the sheets and drift off… but after bidding Atemu a goodnight and settling down, he found his mind plagued with a dragging sound…

**OMGADREAMSEQUENCE**

_Yugi ran away from the sound, but it seemed like no matter how hard or fast he ran, the sound was only feet behind him._

'_Shhhhhshhhhhshhhh'_

_The dragging sound got closer, and closer._

_Yugi turned a corner, this place was like a maze, stair cases going off in every direction: sideways, left, right, upside down, up… he ran up a staircase and found himself in another long hallway. Running, the dragging sound was behind him._

_The boy threw himself into one of the rooms and locked the door behind himself, but the dragging sound was just outside in the hallway. And now, it was scratching at the door._

'_Shhhhshhhshhhhhhhhkkkk'_

_The door knob turned…_

**KDREAMSEQUENCEISOVERNOW**

Yugi bolted straight up in his bed, sweat running down his face. He balled his hands into fists, trying to get them to stop shaking.

'It was just a dream…' He reassured himself.

But no matter how many times he repeated it to himself, the shaking didn't stop. Yugi swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up to stretch. He looked out the windows and saw it was light outside… but he didn't know what time it was. He imagined they must be over China still **5 **.Dressing himself, since he wasn't sure he wanted to walk around the plane in his pajamas, he decided to look for something to eat.

Yugi came out of his room and walked down the hallway, not really paying attention to where he was going so much as the things on the walls or the way the ceiling looked. When he turned another corner he bumped right into another figure.

"Watch where you're going, kid." Came Bakura's gruff voice, clearly having just woke up as well, his hair in disarray.

Yugi muted a giggle that was threatening to slip out, "Good morning, Bakura."

"Hardly!" Bakura scoffed, "Freakin' jet lag is going to suck more than anything once we land."

"I-I wouldn't know," Yugi said truthfully.

"Well let me tell you, it's not the best thing about traveling." The white haired boy looked down, "What are you doing up anyway?"

"I was having trouble sleeping, so I thought I'd look for some food." Yugi explained.

"Ah. Well…. Uh, I was going to meet Marik and Malik if you wanted to join us, I suppose."

Yugi, not really wanting to seem rude but not exactly wanting to be in a room with three people he barely knew had little choice and agreed to go with him. Yugi followed closely behind Bakura, whose legs were quite a big longer than his own, and was astonished when he saw the dining room (something that he and the pilot hadn't entered on his tour). He stood at the top of a spiral staircase leading down one flight to a large round banquet table, lined with crystal goblets and fancy China plates. There was a couch surrounding the table, almost like a booth, and a few chairs, occupied by two blondes…

"Oi," Bakura called down, starting to decend the stairs.

"Oh hey Bakura," Marik said looking up, "Hm… brought the Pharaoh's pet have you?"

"Can it. And you better not let him catch you calling him that."

"Why? You call him Pharaoh all the time…" Marik whined.

"Because it's me calling him it."

"Ah, so you're jealous when I use your pet name?"

"Shut up before I feed you your intestines for your breakfast."

"Touchy." Malik commented.

"You too."

"So you mean I shouldn't tell the Pharaoh's pet your theory on how he's still alive because you think the big bad King has a soft spot for him?"

Yugi's eyes widened.

"I'm going to kill you Malik." Bakura looked over to Yugi, "Don't take him seriously. Besides… our idea of love is your idea of a good shag."

Yugi couldn't even speak, Marik laughed and Malik began to speak again.

"Well, now that we've sufficiently scared him… how about we actually eat. Nice of you to join us, fluffy."

"That's it Florence **6**, you're fucking dead."

"I'd like to see you try and kill me!"

Yugi's eyes widened (even more if possible), as Malik grabbed his butter knife and jumped up on the table, shouting a quick 'En Garde!' and jumping towards Bakura. Bakura simply side stepped and stuck a leg out, sending Malik flailing to regain his balance. The wild looking Egyptian got his stance back and darted at Bakura again, no tactic in his moves, just determination. Bakura once again dodged, seemingly without effort, Malik's attack and grabbed his long purple cloak, choking him back.

"Nice try."

"Ahh fluffy… we'll never get a sense of humor out of you will we?" Malik asked with feigned interest.

Bakura sneered and let go of Malik's cloak. Yugi still stood there, wide eyed, watching as the two walked back towards the table and sat down as if nothing had happened.

"Oi, you gonna eat something, kid?" Bakura asked giving Yugi a funny look.

"Y-yeah sure." Yugi said giving his best 'Not-judging-you' smile.

He sat down at the table and picked out an orange from a bowl centered in front of him. As he started to peel the fruit, Marik looked over to him.

"So squirt," Marik started, "What _did_ you do to get in this predicament? Kingy wouldn't tell us."

"I, uh, over heard them talking in the ally's by the warehouses."

Malik laughed, his laugh made Yugi shudder, "What were you doing there at that time of night?"

"Well, I had gone to this party and just wanted to get home as soon as possible, so I took a short cut."

Bakura laughed, "Sorry kid, I don't imagine you as the party type."

Yugi blushed, "I suppose I'm not really."

Marik smiled, "Don't worry, Fluffy is just jealous because he never gets invited to parties."

"I'll fucking kill you."

"I know Fluffy."

Yugi genuinely smiled, these guys were a little psycho… but they meant well. The four ate, Yugi mostly in silence, but laughing occationally as the other three darker skinned ones chatted away.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

So I would continue, I wanted to keep writing until they got to Egypt, but I've been super busy so I'm going to stop it there and post this before some more nonsense in my life comes up! I've also been playing Vampire: The Masquerade like freakin' crazy. It's addicting! I'll actually probably go play that after I post this, haha, ^^; I worked 8 hours today and am itching for a break!

Hope you liked the chapter! I love writing Bakura x3 btw, hopefully nothing too horribly OOC either. Thanks for all the feedback in advance! Muwah~ !

**1 **no idea as to whether or not this is canon, just figured it fits my needs, so please don't hate me, k tnx

**2 **Seriously. Look up this plane: Boeing 747-8 VIP (or International). It's _crazy_. And costs about $270 MILLION, not including paying the staff/crew and maintenance (most likely another $20 mil).

**3** Personally I am beginning to think Reversi is the devil's game… I'm bad at it, but it's super addicting, so I keep playing, and usually lose. It would probably help if I started playing against a level that wasn't set on expert but I don't feel accomplished if I play against an easy level… anyway, google it if you don't want to have a life for a few hours…

**4** at first I was going to put a bad joke here revolving around Twilight but I refrained…

**5** This is my guess… I really couldn't find much information on private jet routes nor how many stops/hours it would take to get from a Tokyo airport to a Cairo airport… so please deal with my guesses T.T

**6 **Fluffy is the best name for Bakura, and Florence is such a better name for Yami Marik (Malik) anyway… thanks LK xD !


	8. Chapter 8

Three Kings Chapter 8 23:18

**Disclaimer: **I do not own YGO… -cries-

**Chapter Warnings: **Shameless attempts to get the main characters together, talking about _feelings_… Also I'm really sorry if this gets a little too cheesy?

**Chapter Summary: **Discussing feelings, gagging on toast, worrying Atemu doesn't like Yugi, loosing track of Zorc? And almost kisses… Egyptian markets, guns, buying presents, dates? LIMOS!

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**Three Kings: Chapter 8**

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Atemu woke to a soft knock at his door. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, the King stood and gracefully floated to open the door. Seto stood before him, arms crossed.

"You said you wanted to see me first thing in the morning."

Atemu nodded and let out a yawn, motioning Seto to enter and then promptly sitting back down on his bed. The brunette shut the door behind himself as he entered, sighing.

"So what is it."

"I had a sort of favor to ask of you." Atemu began.

"Oh really. Fantastic. What did you need this time?"

A sigh, "Look it's a favor not an order."

Seto was quite for a moment, "Go on then."

"I just wanted to ask if… something were to happen to me… if you could possibly get Yugi and his grandfather out of any danger."

"One, nothing is going to happen to you. Two, they're hardly any of my concern… but since it seems to be a problem for you, sure, I'll be certain that they're out of here if the shit hits the fan. Honestly, though, you're turning soft."

Atemu glared crimson at him, "Don't let me hear you say that to anyone else."

Seto smirked, "Of course not your majesty. Wouldn't want our adversities to know that the great King has lost his sense over a pipsqueak."

Atemu sighed and flopped back against the bed, "Seto… what's it like, with Jou, for you?"

Seto shot him a look, "Alright, you've got to be shitting me now. I'm not talking about my feelings with you."

Atemu glared at him from his reclined position upon the bed, "I'm not asking you to be all lovey-dovey, asshole, as if _you_ could be such a thing, I just want to know how you… knew…"

Atemu didn't mind talking to Seto about these things… Seto was his cousin and so also knew that Atemu, from a very young age, liked boys and girls. However, he'd always been reluctant to pursue anyone (though he had been pursued himself by boys and girls multiple times)… but Yugi was different… there was something about the boy that Atemu just wanted to be around at all times. Yugi was like a spark of light, of something hopeful, a light in his dark life. Maybe it was just the reminder that there was a normal life outside of the mafia…

"I just knew…" Seto growled and leaned up against the wall, "I just did."

"Some help you are, cousin."

"Yeah the epitome of it." Came a bored voice.

"Bakura if you tell me you've been standing there for longer than five nanoseconds, I'll kill you." Atemu threatened.

"Then I won't tell you how long I've been standing here." Bakura said snidely, stepping from the doorway.

"What did you need." Atemu was up again pulling out clothes for the day, obviously going back to sleep was not going to be an option.

"I wanted to let you know that Seto's little device was going off, we might have a lead on where Zorc will be hiding…"

"Seto." Atemu didn't have to finish, the brunette was out of the room and going to track the signal without further orders.

"You're welcome?" Bakura said with a shrug, "By the way, the short one is asking about you."

Atemu did his best to feign disinterest, "Short one? You mean Yugi?"

"Yeah. We've all been awake for quite a while you know, he even ate breakfast with us."

Atemu had to stop himself from taking his palm and planting it square on his face, "I'm assuming by 'us' you mean Marik, Malik and yourself?"

"Who else." Bakura said with a grin.

"I hope you didn't scar him too badly."

"So far there's no evident damage."

"How comforting."

"Look, he just wanted to know why you were dragging us out to Egypt of all places, so you might want to think of a good explanation."

"Yeah, right." Atemu muttered, looking out the window in indifference.

Bakura blinked, "You weren't honestly going to tell him the truth were you?"

Atemu looked up at Bakura and sighed, "It's easier than making up a dumb lie and having to put on a good show in front of him to keep it a secret. Besides, he's going to have to talk to her. If she goes into one of her visions in front of him then we'll have to make up another lie to cover up the first one… lies always become a vicious circle and I don't want to be a part of that. Not with him."

"You think too much." Bakura said flatly and walked out of the room.

Atemu clenched his jaw and continued to pick out his clothes for the day. Leather with leather. Pretty much all his casual clothes were leather. The suits got tiresome, but they were the best choice for business. On the plane, he didn't think he'd get much lip about wearing non-formal attire. At least, if he did get lip, he could push whoever was giving him said lip out any conveniently close-by window and/or door.

Finishing up the clasps on his shirt, he headed out into the plane's hallway, heading towards the dining room since he imagined everyone would be conjugating there. He walked down the small hall, not paying too much attention to where he was going, still in a daze from waking up too early in his personal opinion, when he finally stumbled into the dining area.

Four heads of hair sat around the table, one wild and white, one tricolored and spiky, and two blonde mops. He let out a casual greeting and sat down.

"About time you showed up," Marik complained, "Bakura said he'd have to resort to more drastic methods to wake you?"

"So did he?" Malik asked, "Any tongue action?"

Atemu shot him a look and the duo laughed. Atemu looked over to the younger boy across from him.

"Good morning," Yugi's smile made the blood in his body rush directly to his face.

"Hi." Atemu said dumbly, and grabbed a piece of toast to shove in his mouth before he said anything more stupid.

Atemu sat mentally cussing himself out as the two Egyptian blondes bugged Yugi to spill the beans on his life and the white haired one just sat unimpressed. Atemu could have been a little more cool than just saying 'hi'. For God's sake he could have at least asked the boy how he slept or _something_…

"So what's life like at this game shop?" Marik pressed.

"Pretty… pretty boring actually." Yugi laughed nervously, obviously not used to being in the spot light. "Um, I mean, I just help Grandpa stock and stuff, it's not like I run it or anything yet."

"Do you want to run it one day?" The Egyptian continued his interrogation of the smaller boy.

"Maybe. I guess. I never really thought of doing anything else with my life." Yugi said honestly.

"But you're good at games right, don't you do tournaments?" Malik asked.

"Yeah, I do."

Atemu's head popped up for a second, Yugi was blushing and it was adorable. So adorable that Atemu forgot not to inhale while chewing and ended up starting to choke on the bread in his mouth. Four pairs of eyes turned towards him as he coughed.

'_Real smooth'_ He thought while pounding his chest trying to get the bread to go down.

A firm 'thwunk!' on his back sent the chunk of carbohydrate rocketing down into his stomach and Atemu looked up to see Seto standing behind him.

"We've got news, grace."

Atemu glared at him, not sure whether to retort him for making fun of him after choking or thank him for helping Atemu to stop from dying in the first place. Atemu quickly excused himself from the table and followed Seto out into the hallway, but not before grabbing something safer to eat… like yogurt.

Marik, Malik, Bakura and Yugi sat at the table, Yugi looking sheepishly down on his place at the table. He wondered if maybe, Atemu had started choking because he was laughing at him. Yugi knew it was silly and stupid and something a teenaged girl would think but he started to imagine Atemu was avoiding him for some reason. **1**

Marik and Malik were arguing about something when Yugi finally decided he would walk about the plane a bit longer and maybe head back to his room to read after. Yugi slipped out of the room using the lower level exit and found himself in the lobby type area they had played games in the other night.

A familiar mop of blonde hair was sprawled out along one of the chairs, a laptop in hand, barely noticing Yugi's entrance.

"Hey, Jou." Yugi greeted with his usual smile.

"Oh! Hey there Yug' !" Jou returned the smile, but as if he'd known Yugi all his life he could tell something was off, "What's on yer mind?"

Jou shut the lap top and placed it on a table, gesturing to another seat near Jou's own, "Ya did eat right? Ya gotta eat ya know."

"Yeah I ate." Yugi assured, "Why?"

Jou blinked, "Why do ya gotta eat? That's a silly question—"

"No I mean, why do you ask if I ate?" Yugi said with a bit of a laugh.

Jou paused, "Well ya look like ya might be sick or sometin'… I don't know. Listen, it ain't none of my business but if ya got a problem, you could always let me know."

Yugi smiled, Jou was really a nice guy underneath the tough "Brooklyn-Gangster" side.

"Thanks Jou, I appreciate it, but it's really a stupid problem."

"Don't say that! Any problem ya got isn't stupid, trust me!" Jou assured.

"Well… I just…" Yugi was hesitant, he still thought it was his own stupid mind acting up and not a real problem that he needed to voice to anyone else.

"Hey bud, ya don't need to tell me anything you don't want ta' tell me!" Jou interjected.

Yugi smiled, "I know, but you're a good guy Jou and I don't think you'd take it the wrong way. Bakura, Marik and Malik… they're nice but they can't seem to keep much to themselves…"

"I know what'cha mean!" Jou said thumping his hand on the arm-rest of his chair, "I told them sometin' once and I ain't never gonna make that mistake again!"

"I figured as much," Yugi's smile still held it's place diligently on his face, but Jou noticed it slip faintly at another thought passing through his head.

"Seriously, Yug', ya look like yer really thinkin' over something…"

"It's Atemu." Yugi said flatly, "I think he doesn't like me."

Jou coughed on his own spit hearing those words, "Are you kidding me?"

Yugi looked up, shock clearly written on his face, "What do you mean?"

"I don't mean 'ta be, ya know, too blunt or anything… but the way he looks at you? And your worried he don't like ya?" Jou laughed, "Are you blind?"

Yugi's face went fire engine red before he stuttered out, "But it feels like h-he avoids me and really I've just been a pain since I arrived. H-he's a big shot mafia don and I'm just a dumb kid that's in the way."

Jou laughed and reclined once more in the chair, "Trust me, Yug'. I've been around this guy long enough… and he's Seto's cousin after all… you aren't just a 'dumb kid' ta him. Atemu's a tough guy really, but he becomes a big softie around ya. And he shows a side of himself I don't usually see unless he's around Seto… ya know, family.

"But for one, I've never seen someone who accidentally walked into a mafia meeting treated with anything but malice and here you are on a first class trip to Egypt! Granted it's because ya might have gotten hit on by Atemu's rival but _man_! Oh and about that! Didn't ya see the way he flinched when Seto was explain' ta me about how Zorc had the hots for ya?"

Yugi's face was a mix between being happy that Jou said Atemu didn't mind him and disgust of remembering Zorc, "Please don't mention him, Jou."

"Oh yeah, sorry." Jou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "You're cute Yug', Atemu isn't blind."

"Cute?" Yugi looked up and about face-palmed at the word, just what he wanted to be… cute.

"Aww come on, it's not that bad." Jou laughed.

"Easy for you to say," Yugi mumbled.

"Look, you're plenty attractive so just don't worry about if Atemu likes ya—"

"Woah, woah, woah… don't take this as me trying to… trying to umm…" Yugi struggled for the word.

"Get into Atemu's pant's?" Jou filled in.

Yugi gagged, "Well! Yes! I'm not… trying to get into anyone's pants!"

Jou let out another hardy laugh and stood, picking up his laptop in the process and placing a friendly hand on Yugi's shoulder, "Honestly Yug'… yer too easy for me to read…"

Jou shot Yugi a wink and Yugi about died… Jou knew Yugi had a little crush on Atemu… even if Yugi wasn't ready to admit it out loud yet.

But Yugi paused. Why did Yugi liked Atemu? Sure he was incredibly hot… that was pretty obvious. But Yugi felt like there was something hidden that he hadn't uncovered about Atemu yet… would he still like him after he knew his secrets?

Yugi already knew Atemu was fiercely loyal to the people he loved… and he admired that. Yugi also noticed that he was a very deep thinker… where as Yugi tended to just day-dream… Atemu was dark… but sometimes the dark is necessary… Just like winter.

Without winter, the trees wouldn't have a chance to rejuvenate. Sure, it's dark and cold during winter… but spring comes after and melts away the snow… and brings new life…

"Hey Yug!" Jou said, waking Yugi out of a mid-daydream, "You owe me a rematch at Reversi!"

Yugi laughed, feeling a whole lot better knowing what Jou had told him about Atemu, "Alright! But just remember this time: you asked for it!"

**IVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

"This doesn't add up." Atemu said looking at the information Seto was showing him on the screen.

"Exactly." Commented the brunette, "Zorc knows we're tracking him and trying to send us on a wild goose chase."

Atemu growled, "Then we're just going to have to track him better than he can hide."

"I'm working on it." Seto commented giving Atemu a look, "Did something happen to piss you off this badly?"

"You mean besides loosing our track on Zorc?"

"Yes, besides loosing the trace on the weirdo."

Atemu looked at Seto and let his face soften, "I just made an idiot out of myself is all."

"Oh, so nothing new."

"Fuck you." Atemu said noticing the smirk on Seto's face.

"You're such a poet, 'Temmy. Words like that will win over Yugi's heart in an instant."

Atemu was on the point of reaching out and strangling Seto but a voice on the intercom stopped him, "We will be arriving to Cairo, Egypt, in approximately one hour. Please be in the designated seats within fourty minutes."

"You're so lucky I don't kill you in your sleep." Atemu said before walking towards the exit, "And if you ever call me _that_ _name _again, I swear to God I'll buy a country, fill it with snakes and strand you there." **2**

"Hallow words, cousin, I know you wouldn't do such a thing to family." Seto smirked.

"But if I find the gall you'll be the first to find out, _cousin_." Atemu shot back.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi and Jou looked up from their fifth game, so far Yugi had won every game, as the intercom announced they were approaching their destination.

"Sounds like I better get my things together." Yugi said softly starting to pick up the game pieces and place them into a bag.

"Aw right! Crap! My room's a total mess!" Jou said running a hang through his hair.

Yugi smiled, "Need help?"

"Nah, nah! Ya gotta deal with your own stuff… but ah… if ya get done early…" Jou helped Yugi put the last few pieces of the Reversi game into a small bag.

"I'll drop by before I go to my seat and make sure you're packed too!" Yugi said with a smile and tucked the game board under his arm.

"Thanks Yug', you're a lifesaver, really!" Jou smiled, waved, and took off towards his own room.

Yugi smiled, Jou was a nice guy… now he just had to find his own room again. Yugi sighed and blushed remembering needing Atemu's assistance to find his room last night and thought it too bad that the taller wasn't around again to help out. Putting on a brave face, Yugi decided to give it his best shot to find his room on his own. How big could a plane be anyway… If he just found the hall way…

Yugi marched up a set of stairs and recognized one of the paintings, smiling, he started towards a hallway. Rounding the corner, he halted.

"Wait this isn't the right one," Yugi thought aloud and made a quick spin to turn back around when he went smack dab into a broad chest sending Reversi game pieces all over the floor.

"Crap!" Yugi squeaked thinking about how long it was going to take to pick up all the pieces, "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have spun around like that! I—"

"It's fine, Yugi, and I'll help clean up, I should have known you'd figure out this was the wrong hallway once you took a few steps down it, I just turned the corner to tell you..." Atemu's smooth voice explained as he knelt down to pick up the black and white game pieces.

Yugi's voice caught in his throat at his realization that Atemu was the one he just bumped into… making him feel even more like an idiot. Remembering Jou's words, Yugi blushed, which might as well have been permanent at this point, and he mimicked Atemu, kneeling down to pick up the piece and stuff them in the little black bag.

"I was so sure this was the hallway…" Yugi pouted.

Atemu chuckled, the sound sent shivers down Yugi's spine, "You were one off." The elder explained, "It's just the next hall over."

"A-Ah… I see…" Yugi gulped. "Atemu, thanks for looking out for me."

Yugi blurted it out before thinking it through and when the two looked up from their crouched positions picking up the Reversi pieces, their eyes met, only inches apart…

"It's not a problem…" Atemu said softly, his voice was more husky than it had been five seconds ago…

The two were incredibly aware of the other. Yugi could barely breathe with Atemu's crimson eyes so close to his amethyst… for a split second, daydreaming about Atemu just pulling him into those arms… all it would take is to close the small gap… and Atemu wanted nothing more than to close said gap between them to finally find out just how soft those petal lips Yugi had were… to taste him…

Atemu was the first to move… leaning in…

"Attention Passengers."

Yugi jumped five feet in the air, completely away from Atemu, breaking the moment, and landing flat on his behind, one hand clutched to his chest in fright, "We will be landing in Cairo, Egypt, in approximately fifty minutes. Please be in your seats in thirty minutes."** 3**

Atemu was sending a stern death glare to the speaker overhead of them.

The silence that followed the announcement was deafening and Yugi cleared his throat, hoping to clear some tension. Yugi finally released the clutch he had on his chest, his heart still pounding out of control from the moment he'd just endured. Had he imagined it or… had Atemu been leaning in before that announcement…

"Here." Atemu gently dropped the pieces into Yugi's Reversi game-bag and gave the startled teen a smile as he offered a hand to help him stand up.

Yugi gladly took Atemu's extended hand and felt himself effortlessly pulled up to be standing once more. Just that action of knowing Atemu was stronger than he seemed… made Yugi's blush come back once again… and if Yugi hadn't been trying to hide his blush so badly… he would have noticed that Atemu had his own crimson blush to match his crimson eyes.

"You, um, said my room was the next hall over right?" Yugi finally spoke, his voice still a little higher pitched from the excitement.

"Yeah… that way," Atemu stuck out a thumb to indicate the direction.

"Thanks…" Yugi said gently.

A moment passed and Atemu cleared his throat.

"Say, Yugi… would you want to go with me in Egypt to the street markets? I'll need to go as soon as we land, it will just be to pick up something, but I don't want you to feel like you need to go if you're too tired from the trip."

"Too tired? No way!" Yugi's face had lit up, "I'd love to see something like that!"

Atemu smiled, "Good. Does that mean you slept well?"

Yugi nodded, "These beds are still more comfortable than the one I had at home in the game shop, even if they are on a plane," Yugi laughed and Atemu chuckled along with him.

"That's good to hear." Atemu said, glad to finally feel like a normal human being around Yugi, if even for a second, he was sick of getting tongue-tied around the spiky haired boy. **4**

"Well I'd better go and get everything together, I told Jou I'd help him after I was all set." Yugi explained.

"Of course, I'll go help Jou for now, his room is the next floor up." Atemu offered.

"Thanks! I think he's going to need as much help as possible so I'll join you when I'm done…" Yugi smiled.

Yugi waved and headed off to his own room. Once inside the solidarity of the cozy cabin, he thumped straight to floor.

Atemu might have… Yugi could have sworn Atemu was leaning in… and like an idiot he had to get jumpy over a dumb loud speaker. Yugi shook it off. He could have imagined the whole thing. So, picking himself up, he got to work putting his things in bags… the quicker he was, the quicker he could get to Jou's room and help Jou… and see Atemu again…

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Yugi was a generally tidy person so it didn't take very long for his things to be in order and packed. He took his suitcase and placed it in the designated area outside of his room to be picked up, and headed up to where Atemu had directed him and to Jou's room. They had twenty minutes before they needed to be in their seats.

Jou's room was easy enough to find, just follow the distressed cries! Jou was standing in the middle of a pile of clothes looking at them furiously while Atemu attempted to help him pick them up.

"Look, 'Tem it just ain't gonna work. I don't know how my sister got all this crap to fit in this dumb bag in the first place an' now it just ain't getting back in there! Look at all these clothes!"

"Jou! How did you even manage to take all of these out when we were only on the plane one night?" Yugi asked, stepping into the minefield of a room.

"Well ya see, my sis packed my laptop on da bottom of da suitcase an' I just had to get to it somehow!" His accent picked up as he became frustrated and Yugi was almost certain he was speaking a different language when he started to rant about how women are supposed to be good at packing but don't know certain principles about the whole thing.

"Don't worry Jou, if it fit in there once, we can make it fit again." Atemu reassured, and began to roll the clothing into manageable pieces that he stacked in the suitcase.

One by one the clothes were starting to fill the suitcase, and the more they got in the more the trio was sure everything would end up fitting. One last piece sat on the floor and Yugi reached to grab it not noticing Atemu make the same move. Their hands connected and Yugi blushed, pulling his away first, the garment with it. Bashfully, he handed the shirt back to Atemu, not noticing when Atemu squeezed the hand that had been touched into a tight fist… and then relaxed it as if something had shocked him. **5**

"You can finish." Yugi offered.

Atemu smiled and took the cloth, rolled it, and placed it into the last nook of space in the suitcase.

"Ya both are a pair of saviors! I swear! Miracle workers even!" Jou smirked, "Ya make a great team."

Yugi didn't miss the wink Jou sent him and thought he'd die of embarrassment. Sure he was glad he told Jou, but he was starting to worry the blond was getting the idea to play matchmaker.

"We had best go ahead and get to our seats." Atemu instructed.

"Oh yeah, Yug'! You've never been to Egypt before! Ya gotta see the view when we're landing'!" Jou excitedly piped in, "Now let's jus' throw this outside da door and head ta' our seats!"

Jou picked up his bag and tossed it in a similar looking cart that Yugi had had placed out side his room for luggage and the trio headed towards the passenger area of the plane. The blue lights on the ceiling made Yugi think of a bright blue sky as they began to take their seats. Jou had caught up with Seto and took the seat next to the CEO, while Atemu and Yugi stood.

"Why don't you sit here?" Atemu gestured lightly to the seats next to them, a window seat, "I do believe this side of the plane will get to see the best side."

Yugi nodded excitedly and sat down in the seat closest to the window. Looking out, he was already shocked at what he saw. Desert and water (the Nile?) surrounded by an incredibly luscious green color. And lots of it! He'd never seen so much sand in his life! But the way the rising sun reflected off it made it appear to be mounds of glittering gold far below them. **6**

The contrast of sparkling gold and moist green captivated Yugi until he saw mainly city around him and realized they were landing in Cairo. The Cairo International Airport was right on the edge of desert and city, so after they landed, the first step Yugi took off the plane he had two completely different views. To one direction was endless desert, the other was city. He couldn't believe he was finally here! His grandpa would be ecstatic! Telling him all about the ancient history here… just the thought of his grandfather caused Yugi's heart to ache just a bit…

The group all had exited the plane and were escorted out in limousines, only Jou, Seto, Atemu and Yugi went in their own (but only after Mai mothered Yugi a bit, telling him to be safe and warning Atemu that if anything happened to Yugi it was his fault). Yugi was pretty nervous about this new experience, but excited. They were traveling down a highway and he opening stared at all the different kinds of people they passed in the other cars, feeling lucky that the limo's windows were tinted a dark color so no one could see him watching them.

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

It didn't take long before they reached the market in Cairo that Atemu needed something from, and so they all exited the car. Atemu led the way into a dense crowd of people. There were vendors on both sides in between tall buildings. Cell phones were going off, people were chattering in Arabic, a language Yugi knew nothing of, and there were bright colors, different banners, young and old, women carrying small or large packages on their clothed heads. People also stared back at Yugi now, seeing his different skin and hair. Even more people looked at Atemu and Seto, who were both obviously good looking. A few people stopped Jou to ask for his autograph, the blonde hair and his style must have made him look like a movie star to them.

Car horns were going off on the busier street not too far away, but down this small back ally, Yugi truly felt like he was in another world. He became distracted by a food vendor who had set out several ice cold juices. Yugi was quite thirsty… Atemu looked back and noticed Yugi staring at the cart, he walked over.

"Which flavor?" Atemu asked.

Yugi blushed, "W-Well I can't read them…"

"Strawberry? Banana?" Atemu listed.

"Um… strawberry."

Atemu turned to the vendor and in flawless Arabic placed an order for the asiir, and once it was done, handed it to Yugi who took it with a thank you and took a deep gulp of the delicious drink.

"Is it good?" Atemu asked.

Yugi nodded, "Yeah!"

Atemu face lighted at Yugi's response and he seemed satisfied, "Ok, let's keep moving, try not to fall behind around here."

"Right." Yugi followed along, realizing that Jou and Seto had gone down a different alley.

Yugi and Atemu reached a taller building with a few non-descript signs here and there, Atemu went to go in and Yugi followed.

"Yugi, I might have to step into a back room here but I should be right back out. If I'm not out in a few minutes, feel free to look around the streets again, you brought that cell-phone right?"

Yugi reached into his pocket to feel out the phone he had been given by Atemu before they landed and nodded, "Yep!"

"Ok, well, keep it with you."

They walked into the store and Yugi about froze. This place sold guns! There were tons of guns on the walls and in the display cases… he should have known traveling with a mafia boss would wind him up in a place like this… he just didn't expect it was all.

The man behind the counter greeted them and Atemu gracefully entered a conversation in Arabic once more with him. The man seemed pleased to see Atemu and greeted him warmly. Atemu smiled as well, as if they were close friends or something? The man address Yugi and Yugi blushed, looking to Atemu.

'_This is my friend, Hikari, he's Japanese as well, and doesn't speak any Arabic.' _Atemu explained.

'_Ah! I see! No problems! Tell him he is welcome to stick around!' _Said the man.

'_Of course, thank you.'_

Then Atemu shot a look back at Yugi and said in Japanese once more to him: 'I'll be right back.'

Yugi watched as the two disappeared into a back room. He started to wonder just how long he should wait alone in a place like this… what if someone crazy came in looking for a gun? Would someone think Yugi was a crazy person looking for a gun? Ugh… maybe that's why Atemu had made the offer for him to go back out on the streets… he decided he'd go ahead and do that…

Yugi stepped out into the open air and breathed in the warmth. It was still early enough in the day that the tall buildings helped shade the entire alley market. Stepping into the flow of the crowd, Yugi saw some clothing stands and decided to take a look. Regular western style clothing as well as traditional Arabic garb lined the racks and walls of the booth. Moving on, Yugi noticed a charm booth with scarab talismans and other trinkets. A delivery truck passed by on the narrow street. Incense vendors… food vendors, books, flowers, wine! Everything!

Yugi didn't know how long he spent walking down the street before he felt a hand around his wrist. He panicked and turned only to see Atemu smiling at him. Atemu's hand slipped from Yugi's wrist to holding his hand.

"See anything you want?" He asked.

Yugi blushed when the thought '_You'_ came to mind.

Atemu wasn't removing his hand from Yugi's, but Yugi didn't mind, and shook his head, "N-no I'm fine! Did you get what you needed?"

Atemu nodded, "Yeah, we can either go find Jou and Seto if you're ready to leave or just continue to walk."

Yugi paused, "Could we… walk a little farther?"

"Of course."

As they walked, Atemu moved an arm around Yugi's shoulders and Yugi couldn't help but suddenly feel very warm. Atemu was just taller enough than Yugi that he fit right over beside the shorter boy. It was like two pieces of a puzzle. Yugi's face went hot. But as they walked, Yugi looked at other people to gauge their reactions, and realized that many people were walking arm in arm or with their arms around another's shoulders… men and women alike. It was actually quite common the more he looked around, so he felt more relaxed… and just enjoyed Atemu's arm around him. It may have been the culture here, but Yugi let his mind pretend it was a little more than that… for just a little while.

They made it past a few more shops, but Yugi hardly paid attention to the things that Atemu would point out to him.

"The scarabs are good luck charms," Atemu commented at one point, "Would you like one?"

Yugi's heart thumped, it was like a date or something…

'_Woah! Moron! Don't start getting stupid ideas in your head… Atemu's always been generous. These things aren't that expensive, it's not like it's going to put a dent in his wallet he just… always offers things. If Jou and Seto were here on their first time I'm sure he would buy them one too…'_ Yugi reasoned in his head.

"Well I don't want to be a bother," Came the shorter of the two's modest response, "I mean, thanks but… you've already let me come all the way out here in the first place."

"it's not a problem, really." Atemu said again, slipping his arm off Yugi's shoulder to reach for his wallet.

As they stood, another cart passed by on the road, without Yugi noticing. The edge of the cart bumped Yugi's behind and sent him falling forward… into the waiting arm of Atemu who helped steady the high-school boy. The man pulling the cart gave a 'sorry' or something like it, Atemu responded, probably, a 'It's fine' and looked down at Yugi with a grin.

"Looks like you'll need a charm for safety as well." Came the darker's voice.

Yugi looked up and about died… Atemu's devilish grin and close proximity made his heart start to beat faster… or maybe it was the heat… he was going to blame the heat… but his response in his head was: '_You make the perfect safety charm._'

Yugi blushed and pulled back from Atemu, "Thanks… guess I do."

Yugi smiled up at him, and Atemu turned to pick out a scarab charm…

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Seto stood leaning up against a wall, unimpressed by his boyfriend's stalking.

"Seriously Seto, ya gotta lighten up… I know Yug' is crushin' on Atemu and YOU know that Atemu isn't sure what he feels even though we both know that he wants Yugi like—"

"If you talk any louder I'm sure they'll be able to here you." Seto said bluntly.

Jou turned to face the brunette, "Ya callin' me a loudmouth or somethin'!"

Seto smirked, "No, I'm calling you a horrible creeper."

"I'm not a creeper!" Jou defended, striking a strong pose, "I'm just tryin' to help them out!"

Seto quirked an eyebrow at this statement, "You're trying to help them by stalking them?"

Jou sighed, "You're impossible."

"No, just an asshole."

"That too."

The blonde turned to look back at the spiky haired duo down the street, "Atemu is buyin' him something again… ahh! It's a scarab charm! Dat jerk Atemu! He didn't buy me one when we came here for the first time!"

Seto gave Jou a look, "That's because you said there was no way in hell you were going to ever wear jewelry."

"Well it looks like jewelry ta me!"

"Didn't I end up buying you one later anyway because you complained to me that you really wanted one?"

"Yeah…" Jou admitted.

"Well then."

Seto closed his eyes, honestly just wanting to get back to trying to track Zorc, but Jou had insisted they keep an eye on the two incase anything 'good' happened. Jou's tendency to get in the middle of things was showing quite plainly now but Seto didn't mind. It was Jou who asked him to come along after all… and they both knew for whatever reason that when Jou asked something of Seto, the blue-eyed CEO had a hard time saying 'no.'

"Woah!" Jou suddenly cried out, it looked like he was going to bolt down to where the charm stand was but he stopped and let out a breath, "Yug' almost got pushed right inta' that stand by a cart… good thing Atemu's got some reflexes on 'im."

Seto, being curious, peeked his head around the corner to look. Yugi was being held up by one of Atemu's arms wrapped firmly around the smaller boy's chest, and Seto could see Yugi's bright red blush from where he and Jou stood. But what made Seto laugh was the grin on Atemu's face… he was enjoying having to protect Yugi… it made Seto think of the way he enjoyed looking out for Jou…

"What is it, Seto?" Jou asked hearing Kaiba's chuckle.

"Nothing, mutt…"

"Hey!"

Seto pulled Jou into a quick embrace, burying Jou's face in his chest, "Why don't we just leave them alone for a while?"

"But they don't even know we're here…" Came Jou's muffled response from Kaiba's chest.

Seto sighed, "Come on…"

Seto took Jou's hand and led him down the alley they had been watching from to give the two unsuspecting love-birds some _actual_ privacy from Jou's prying eyes. After seeing that look on Atemu's face… not only did Seto gain something to tease his cousin about later, but he also had a sense that everything would work out just fine…

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

Atemu pulled an amethyst scarab from the pile in front of him. It matched Yugi's eyes perfectly.

"How about this one?" Atemu offered.

Yugi looked up, he noticed that the one Atemu had was a very pretty purple color, but he saw another one he wanted more.

"Could I… actually take this one?" He asked, and pulled out the one that had caught his eye.

"That one?" Atemu asked.

Yugi had pulled out a crimson red scarab.

"Yeah," Yugi said shyly, "But you're buying and I'm happy with either one!"

Atemu smiled, "If you tell me why that one I'll agree…"

Yugi laughed, "It's a secret."

Atemu was curious now… but chose not to let it show.

"Fine." Atemu bought the scarab and, turning back to Yugi, draped the charm around Yugi's neck.

Holding on to the scarab to look at it for a moment longer, Atemu smiled at Yugi, "It suits you."

Yugi smiled back, "Thank you. Again. For everything."

Atemu nodded, and for a second, looking at Yugi's face, wanted once more, just like on the plane, to lean in… he cut off that thought process immediately. It was bad enough they were wasting time in the middle of the streets. Zorc was still out there.

"We should go find Seto and Jou." Atemu blurted out, as if in a trance.

Yugi's head cocked to the side at the sudden proposition, "Ok…"

Turning to walk down the street, Atemu didn't grab Yugi's hand or take him by the shoulder's again, so Yugi trotted to keep up. Atemu had his phone out before Yugi could ask if something was wrong, and heard him talking to who he assumed was Seto. After a few seconds, he clapped the phone shut and turned to Yugi.

"We're meeting them back at the hotel. Is that Ok?"

Yugi nodded dumbly and followed Atemu once more as he took off towards where they had left the limos. The long black vehicles were waiting for them in almost the same place, a man holding open the door for the two of them. Yugi mustered a thank you to the driver, but wasn't sure what had just happened… Atemu almost frozen back at the market… did Yugi say something to upset him?

When the limo started to move, Yugi wondered if perhaps Atemu was distressed about Yugi saying he had a secret. But he sure as heck wasn't going to tell Atemu he wanted the red one because it reminded him of the color of the King's eyes…

Atemu sat staring out the window of the limousine, he felt slightly guilty to have suddenly treated Yugi with such distance, but the King worried that if he got any closer he might do something he'd regret.

'_You're an idiot.' _Atemu told himself, '_Yugi can actually live a normal life if you don't get involved any more than you have to. Just get Zorc out of the picture, Yugi's not going to blab about me or my hideouts…'_

Atemu almost shuddered thinking of a life without Yugi's presence. Somehow, when he thought back to before Yugi showed up, it just seemed duller than things were now. The darker's fist clenched. He was usually cold and calculating. He usually didn't care about another person's life… what the hell had Yugi done to him?

Allowing his eyes to slide to look sideways, he stared at the younger boy. Deep amethyst eyes, youthful complexion, always a cheerful aura… he was alluring, that was for sure. Maybe Atemu needed some more light in his life…

**VIVIVIVIVIVIVIV**

**1** Just wanted to clarify, Yugi is feeling like Atemu is getting sick of him being around and is self-conscious about this because even though he won't say it out loud, he's starting to crush on Atemu… YOU GET IT RIGHT? NO? … well TOO BAD ._.

**2 **We're going to say Seto has a fear of snakes, mmmkay?

**3 **You have full permission to chew me out for ruining their moment.

**4 ** Yugi will be the spiky haired boy and Atemu will be the spiky haired man? Ugh. It's hard to use hair to describe similar looking Yami/Hikari couples T3T

**5 **Think when Mr. Darcy touches Lizzy's hand in the newer movie? Yeah… I love that xD

**6** The scenes in Egypt are going to be really hard for me to write since I'm going from second hand account, I've never been there myself though it's a life goal to see the pyramids one day… I just wanted to warn you that all of this is through word-of-mouth representation or just straight up imagination! So bear with me please ^^ ! Honestly most of this is google, youtube, and googlemaps doing their very best to help me feel what it would be like to spend a day in Egypt!

**A/N: **Sorry this took forever to put up! I gave up this site for Lent and then completely got wrapped up in life that I forgot to post this. Hopefully the length makes up for the time off I had ^^ ! Thank you for your kind words and any constructive critizism is welcome ! YUGI LOVES REVIEWERS !1!one!

PS. Hopefully this isn't too… bad-day-time-TV-drama-esque.

-giggle-

**1** Just wanted to clarify, Yugi is feeling like Atemu is getting sick of him being around and is self-conscious about this because even though he won't say it out loud, he's starting to crush on Atemu… YOU GET IT RIGHT? NO! … well TOO BAD.

**2 **We're going to say Seto has a fear of snakes, mmmkay?

**3 **You have full permission to chew me out for ruining their moment.

**4 ** Yugi will be the spiky haired boy and Atemu will be the spiky haired man? Ugh. It's hard to use hair to describe similar looking Yami/Hikari couples T3T

**5 **Think when Mr. Darcy touches Lizzy's hand in the newer movie? Yeah… I love that xD

**6** The scenes in Egypt are going to be really hard for me to write since I'm going from second hand account, I've never been there myself though it's a life goal to see the pyramids one day… I just wanted to warn you that all of this is through word-of-mouth representation or just straight up imagination! So bear with me please ^^ ! Honestly most of this is google, youtube, and googlemaps doing their very best to help me feel what it would be like to spend a day in Egypt!


	9. Chapter 9

HI !

So I am really sorry it's been TWO years since I've done anything with this story… so much has happened…!

Let's see… for one, I'm half way through my Junior year at my college, I'm going for Nursing. Second, I'm engaged! Woo! I blame him for my sudden screeching halt in writing (ha). But now I'm here! I got an email saying I had gotten a review on this story and after reading it, went back and re-read my whole story thus far. After I did that I realized that I really wanted to know what happened next-and then realize that _I_ was the one who had to write what happened next ^ ^U ! So I started writing and here it is! I had to get into an old computer to recover the first part of this chapter (yes I had started writing it! Only the beginning with Bakura though) and went from there! I hope you guys like it and again: SO SORRY ! I hope to finish this story… I am starting school again in a little over a week so no promises, but here is Chapter 9!

**Three Kings ~ Chapter 9**

Bakura walked the busy streets of Cairo, the King had to be around here somewhere… maybe the quartet had got lost? Or left already. Bakura exhaled deeply. This was bullshit. How was he supposed to help the King and Seto keep tabs on that moron of an adversary (Zorc) if they didn't let him know where they were going?

Sure, Bakura _could_ use a cell phone, but he didn't trust the blasted things as far as he could throw them, which was pretty far… so that expression didn't help much. Technology and the white haired "Thief" just didn't seem to go well together.

In the sea of dark hair, Bakura saw a flash of color. Thinking it could be Atemu's blonde bangs or the mutt's mop that had caught his eye, he gave chase. As he turned the corner, the hair he saw turned out to be a longer main of white, similar to his own… this intrigued Bakura. He rarely found someone with such different looking locks, and for them to be in Egypt? Bakura decided to hang back and follow the boy.

As Bakura watched, he noticed that the boy had fair skin, and by fair, he really meant snow white kind of skin, and wore a traveler's backpack, obviously a tourist. The boy seemed intrigued by the things set out on display at the shops. Bakura slipped back to keep hidden, starting to wonder if he'd seen this boy before… Thinking on it now… The Pharaoh had sent Bakura to the look-a-like midget King's high school to set up the whole "internship" bologna… that was it! This kid looked like Bakura so much when he had seen him at Domino High School. But what was he doing all the way out in Egypt?

Bakura kept to the sides of buildings and followed the more innocent looking one into a back alley where the kid met up with a hooded figure, who unfortunately had his face not only hooded, but turned away from Bakura so that he couldn't get identification.

"They're staying at the Nile Hotel. Can I go now?" The white hair kid said in a huff.

"So impatient, Ryou!" Said the hooded figure, "Don't you care about payment?"

"You said she'd be safe if I did this."

"Oh she is! Don't worry your pretty little head about that! But I'm afraid you aren't exactly out of this yet…"

"I did what you asked… you didn't say I'd have to do more."

"You'll do as you're told, or she dies, and you'll be to blame." The voice came out like venom.

Bakura watched as the hooded figured grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him in close, whispering further instructions into the boy's ear. The boy's face twisted in displeasure as he listened to the instructions he was given, clearly put off by the idea that this guy had something on him.

Bakura wasn't able to hear any more of what the hooded figured said and couldn't go down the alley without exposing himself to the two. So he hung back at a shop right next to the exit of the alley way. The two had been talking about the same Hotel that the Pharaoh was staying in… he smelt something funny about the whole thing. It's not every day that some nobody is being blackmailed into trailing someone to a hotel on the same day that a Boss comes into town.

When Ryou emerged from the alley, an obvious annoyed look on his face, Bakura peaked back down to see if the other man would follow, but when he looked down the alley, the man was gone. Ryou seemed so irritated by his new instructions that he didn't seem to be paying attention to his surroundings, an amateur mistake. Satisfied that the hooded man was gone, he began to track the pawn. Surely this young boy would tell Bakura everything he knew with a little… persuasion.

**VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV**

The two men sat in their cramped closet.

"Are you sure it's going to work this time?" Asked the first.

"How should I know? But the boss said it would. Said this time we'd have even more warning if they're tracking us."

"Well I don't like it."

"Well then you can miss out on the cash we're gonna rake in if we do this job right. Now are you gonna help me out or are you just gonna keep bitching?"

"Look, all I'm saying is we're putting our necks out. Gebelk never came back from their little meeting with that douche-bag the King… I think things went south, and they know who's behind it."

"So what." Said the darker of the two, "That just means they're going to go after the boss and not us."

"Well I still don't like it…"

**VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV**

Marik and Malik approached the hotel warily. It'd been a long time since they'd come back to this place. Both boys had been born and raised here, but didn't call this home. This land brought back not-so-fond distant memories for the twin Egyptians. But that was a long time ago… now they were just here to inform their sister of the current events… although she was probably already well aware.

Stepping through the automatic glass doors of the hotel, the two were blasted by cool air. They observed the lobby full of the upper crest population of downtown Cairo. Lavish indoor fountains lined the middle of the expansive room. Bright orange tile with blue carpet mixed with gold details. There were women dressed in very professional business skirts and long sleeve collared shirts behind the counter and men in suits and ties helping guests with their luggage and assisting them to find their rooms. One man stood different from the others dressed in dark robes. His head was half covered with ancient markings, a tattoo that ran across his eyes and cheeks. The only hair on the man's head came from a low ponytail just above his neck. He watched as the two twins entered with a stoic expression on his face.

"Welcome back Master Marik, Master Malik." Said the man.

"Hey Rashid." Greeted Malik.

Marik smiled, "It's been too long, huh?"

"She's been expecting you," said the man called Rashid.

"Figures," Malik said, rolling his eyes.

Rashid let a smile through, "It just goes to show that some things never change."

**XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX**

Atemu and Yugi sat in the back of the limo. Atemu hadn't said much, and Yugi was started to fidget. What had he done? Maybe… maybe Atemu was just realizing that Yugi was a nobody, a kid, who hadn't seen the world or done anything all that great…

"Yugi…"

Hearing his name slip from those lips made him shudder.

"Yeah?" Yugi responded, not sure if Atemu was about to tell him that he'd have to go back to Japan.

Maybe he was going to let him know that Jou was just pulling his leg. That there was no way a guy like the _King_ would like a guy like Yugi. But the next words didn't come. They reached the hotel and Atemu got out first, holding the door open for Yugi.

Yugi let out a "thanks," and followed the Pharaoh in through glass doors. Through the main doors, the lobby was large and filled with running fountains, women and men dressed in suits, brilliant oranges, blues and golds. Real palm trees lined paths through the lobby and towards the elevators. Atemu moved towards the women standing behind the desk. The one he chose to talk to obviously seemed pleased, who wouldn't with such a handsome man talking to you? Yugi looked around a little more. Along the bottom of the fountain in golden letters spelled out "Nile Hotel." It fit nicely. Yugi could get the feeling of being by a river in this serene hotel. He hoped Atemu wasn't going to ship him back to Japan just for the fact that he hadn't gotten to see any of Egypt yet.

Looking around the room, Yugi started to wonder if he really would get to at least see a pyramid… a hand on his shoulder jumped him out of his little day-dream.

"I've got our room key." Atemu said gently, realizing he had startled Yugi.

"OK," Yugi said trying his best to give Atemu a genuine smile.

They walked to the elevators, and without having to press any buttons, the doors opened. A man in a suit stood inside, Atemu gave him the floor number. When they reached floor 6, the elevator stopped and Atemu walked out, Yugi followed in toe. Atemu stopped in front of room 614. Opening the room, Yugi suddenly came to a stop. Yugi's belongings were on the floor in the living room area of the suite… next to them were Atemu's things… and then it hit him… he had _their_ room key.

They were going to be in a room… together. No, no way, couldn't be. Maybe he just hadn't seen the other luggage… or at least maybe the beds were separate…

"Um," Yugi walked a little more into the room after Atemu, trying not to give away his growing excitement, "Who else is staying with us?"

Atemu seemed to notice the slight change in Yugi's voice. His crimson eyes looked over to Yugi; the door to their room had swung shut and clicked in a suggestive manner. Atemu smirked slightly; the innocence in Yugi's face was shining through.

"Well, I had thought it'd be OK for just the two of us to share a room… but if you'd rather have your own I could certainly make arrangements."

"No!" Yugi realized how quickly he responded, "I mean… just don't go through so much trouble for me, it's really f-fine if we're in here alone, ugh, I mean, you know. I don't feel threatened o-or anything."

Atemu smiled and looked away, "Let me know if you change your mind."

Yugi hadn't realized that in the back of Atemu's mind, he was hoping Yugi would choose to stay away from him, to save himself from getting any more tangled in this sticky dangerous web, but he wasn't displeased when Yugi seemed flustered and wanted to stay in the room with him…

Yugi had a chance to fully look around the room now, they stood in a living room area which smoothly transitioned into a dining and kitchen area. Two rooms (separate, Yugi was slightly bummed) had two large beds in them. Both had canopy sheer sheets hanging down over down pillows and comforters. Pure white. The floor was marble patterned in a very rigid Egyptian flair. A bathroom was near the bedrooms, with a Jacuzzi tub and large stand up shower inside. Tan tiles and light blue walls with a sky light made the bathroom light up. It looked relaxing. Yugi wondered if he'd get a nice bath in later. Atemu seemed to notice where Yugi's eyes lingered.

"Would you like to take a bath?" Atemu asked.

Yugi gulped.

**XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX**

Bakura had followed Ryou down a few streets, the boy wasn't even bothering looking around. It didn't take long for Bakura to realize the direction he was headed. The boy was going towards the hotel, there was no doubt about it. The Thief King worried that perhaps the boy's backpack held something more sinister—a bomb maybe? No, most likely not. The boy didn't seem too shaken and certainly wouldn't just be peeved over having to plant a bomb… or maybe he'd been given the backpack without knowing what was in it…

Bakura sped up to get closer to the boy, he had a plan but wasn't sure if he could be certain the boy wasn't being tailed. As he reached the boy he looked around, no one seemed to be watching him. Those fools probably thought that the King wouldn't have men like him on patrol in the city streets. They thought wrong… however, Bakura wanted to make sure no one saw him interact with the boy. Bakura quickly pulled out an old receipt and a pen from his jean pockets, scribbling down a few words:

_I know what they want from you. I can help. Meet me here._

An address was sprawled along the bottom of the torn paper.

Bakura caught up easily to Ryou, his strides were much longer though both boys had long graceful legs. As Bakura passed, his hand found its way into Ryou's, successfully slipping the paper into his palm. Ryou jumped only slightly, looking at the side of the Thief King's face.

To Ryou, he saw the side of Bakura's face: handsome, tan, scarred, _dangerous _looking. He shuddered. He'd already gotten into a situation with dangerous men… but this one…

Before Ryou could say anything or react further, the man darted down an alley as they passed by it. Ryou stopped and watched him walk away. Looking down into his hand, he saw a folded note. Reading the words, his eyes widened.

'_How does he know?_' Ryou thought, now seriously concerned.

What if the men blackmailing him found out that someone else _knew._

'_But his note says he can help… I don't know… he looked just as dangerous…'_

Ryou decided he had no choice… she was in danger… he might as well find a different way, after all, he didn't want to get involved in this silly mafia business. But little did the boy know…

He followed Bakura down the same Alley, unsure of where the address on the bottom of the paper really was. He got to the next street and saw the name written on the side of the road, thank God the signs were in multiple languages or he'd have no idea where he was going. The men who brought him here didn't exactly equip him with an 'Arabic for Dummies' book on the way over. He looked around at the numbers above the doorways and headed south down the street. As he approached the address he looked around. It seemed like a regular enough shop… just a little trinket store?

He stepped through the open door. Little talismans, daggers, boxes, incenses, and jars surrounded him. Carpets of all sorts and shapes lined the floors. Colorful sheets were draped down off the sides of the walls, swaying gently in the wind. No sign of the white haired man who had given him the note though. Moving slightly around the corner, he spotted an old lady standing behind the counters. She motioned for him to go through a back door, and Ryou obliged, after all he had come this far.

Through the doorway, he found himself in a small court yard. A tree grew in the middle, he wasn't sure what kind, certainly one he'd never seen in Domino City before…

There was another door on the other side, so he continued through.

Passing through the doorway, he stepped through into a dark room.

"Hello?" He called out, unable to see much in front of him.

The door shut behind him, and Ryou's world went pitch black.

**XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV**

WHEW! Hope you like it! Please let me know in a review!

Also: it's been super long since I have even thought about this story so if anything is disjointed I apologize! I feel like I was on such a role with this story and I'm hoping to get back into my groove! It was fairly easy to get this chapter out, I still think I have the plot in my head pretty well! Please give any feedback you can! And thank you so much to anyone who has stuck with the story!

Much love,

Anukis-san


End file.
